TRANSPORT

Aviation: Security

John Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what work his Department is undertaking to test systems for screening liquids in airports.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has worked with European partners to establish agreed criteria for the testing of liquids screening systems, and is currently working with manufacturers to share data and consider opportunities for operational trials.

Bus Services: Concessions

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department had spent on concessionary bus travel for pensioners in  (a) Gloucestershire and  (b) Stroud constituency on the latest date for which figures are available.

Sadiq Khan: From April 2008, the Department for Transport has provided additional special grant funding to local authorities to cover the extra cost of providing the extension to the concession; which now guarantees free off-peak local bus travel across England to all eligible older and disabled residents:
	(a) A total of £2,468,030 in 2008-09 and £2,526,238 in 2009-10 to all of the travel concession authorities (TCAs) in the county of Gloucestershire (which includes the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire council and Stroud district council);
	(b) £237,197 in 2008-09 and £242,791 in 2009-10 to Stroud district council.
	(c) Communities and Local Government (CLG) continues to provide the bulk of concessionary travel funding to local authorities through Formula Grant. Before 1 April 2008, funding for the statutory minimum bus concession was provided exclusively through the Formula Grant system.
	The Department for Transport did however provide £31 million of grant to England in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the new England-wide bus passes to all those eligible, of which a total of £539,760 went to the TCAs of Gloucestershire; this includes Stroud's allocation of £40,736.

Geographical Information Systems

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much had been spent on the Galileo Project as at 1 March 2010; and what future funding is planned for the project.

Sadiq Khan: The European Union (EU) and member states of the European Space Agency (ESA) have jointly funded the design and development of Galileo. The deployment and operational phase of the programme and all future costs are the responsibility of the EU.
	€1.6 billion is the approximate committed spend on the design and development of the system. The majority of this has been funded by ESA who provided €1.46 billion, with the remainder funded by the EU. The UK share of the ESA contribution is €168.05 million, of which €161.1 million has been paid and the UK is committed to pay the remainder during 2010. UK contributions to EU funds are for use in all its expenditure and are not calculated on an individual programme basis.
	The current phase of the Galileo programme, the deployment and operation of the system (2010-13), will see the Galileo programme achieve full operational capability (FOC) and is currently being procured by ESA on behalf of the European Commission. The EU funding of Galileo between 2007 and 2013 has been capped at €3.4 billion.
	The European Commission has estimated a further £6 billion will be needed for operation and maintenance costs from 2013-30. We expect the commission to bring forward, in spring of this year, proposals for how funding after 2013 might be sourced and what elements might come from private and public sources.

Government Car and Despatch Agency: Driving Offences

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many driving offences of each type have been committed by those who drive Ministers whilst on duty for the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each of the last three years.

Paul Clark: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 859W.

Illegal Immigrants

Robert Syms: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many staff his Department and its agencies have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2005.

Chris Mole: In each of the last five years, there have been no illegal immigrants found to be working as a Department for Transport employee.
	In December 2008, one illegal immigrant was found to be working at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority as an employee of a contractor and was arrested on 10 December 2008. The contractor carried out all relevant checks prior to employment but was deceived by the forged documentation provided by this individual.
	People employed to work in Government Departments and their agencies, either directly or through a contractor, are required to satisfy requirements on identity, nationality and immigration status prior to the offer of employment. On the one occasion within the last five years where compliance checks have found illegal immigrants working for Department for Transport contractors, the individual was kept in detention until his appearance in court on 12 January 2009.

Pilots: Licensing

Mark Todd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how he will ensure the Civil Aviation Authority fulfils its commitment to maintain the UK Instruments Meteorological Conditions Pilots Licence rating.

Paul Clark: I am not aware of any such commitment by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA, with the support of the Government, continues to work to influence the development of European requirements with the aim of helping the European Aviation Safety Agency meet its primary objective of ensuring a high uniform level of safety.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010,  Official Report, column 208W, on roads: snow and ice, how much the Highways Agency has spent on salt from overseas suppliers in each of the last 12 years.

Sadiq Khan: The Highways Agency does not purchase salt directly, as this is the responsibility of their contracted service providers, as part of their requirement to deliver the winter service to keep the strategic network safe and open during severe winter weather. Consequently the Highways Agency has not purchased any overseas salt over the last 12 years, except, as a result of the national salt shortages experienced over the last two winter seasons, the Highways Agency has helped facilitate the importation of overseas salt to its service providers.
	In 2008-09 season, the Highways Agency helped to import approximately 58,000 tonnes of salt, with a further 127,000 tonnes imported in the 2009-10 winter season. The price paid by the Highways Agency's service providers varies between £50-£95 per tonne, depending on the salt supplier and haulage distances.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010,  Official Report, column 208W, on roads: snow and ice, how much salt was used on the strategic network in each of the last 12 years.

Sadiq Khan: The Highways Agency is responsible for maintaining and operating the strategic trunk road and motorway network in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. Actual delivery of the maintenance activities, including winter maintenance, is carried out by the agency's contracted service providers.
	As well as delivering precautionary salt treatments and snow ploughing during severe winter weather, the agency's service providers are required to maintain sufficient salt stocks to treat their part of the network. These activities are paid for within lump sum payments and as such, information on individual elements such as salt volume used is not routinely collected and is not therefore readily available.
	Following the end of the winter maintenance period, the Highways Agency will examine the levels of salt used during periods of adverse weather to determine best practice for future years.

Snow and Ice

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the aggregate cost to local authorities in  (a) Northamptonshire and  (b) England of repairs to local roads as a result of the recent cold weather.

Sadiq Khan: The maintenance of local roads in England is a matter for each local highway authority. It is for each individual authority to assess which parts of its network are in need of repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge.
	It will be for local highway authorities to estimate the costs of repairing damage to their roads, including where they consider damage was caused by this winter.

Waterloo Station

Susan Kramer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what consideration he has given to the development of the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo station for purposes other than for domestic passenger transport.

Chris Mole: It has always been the Department for Transport's intention to bring the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo back into use for domestic passenger services.
	There are no plans for any other permanent use; although a series of theatrical performances are being staged during summer and autumn 2010 for the benefit of the Railway Children charity before the platforms are brought back into use for domestic services.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund: Nottinghamshire

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information was provided by Nottinghamshire county council to his Department on its mineral plans and aggregates levy sustainability fund (ALSF) spending criteria in reaching devolved ALSF funding agreements with his Department.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Funding for a number of local authorities, including Nottinghamshire, that are most affected by aggregates extraction is provided direct from DEFRA via the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) on the basis that the authorities themselves will have discretion over where that funding is spent. There are no "devolved funding agreements" in the way suggested.
	Information on the individual projects funded through the ALSF has been provided via the project database on the DEFRA website and includes project details, location, cost and match funding.

Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund: Nottinghamshire

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of minerals extracted from quarries in Nottinghamshire was from the parish of Misson in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much aggregates levy sustainability fund money has been spent in projects in Misson in the last 10 years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Nottinghamshire county council has informed us that 6 per cent. of the aggregates extracted from quarries in Nottinghamshire came from the parish of Misson (from most recent (2008) figures from the East Midlands Aggregates Working Party).
	Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) money has only been available for community theme ("Objective 5") projects in Nottinghamshire since 2005-06. No ALSF Delivery Partner has recorded money being spent on projects in Misson on the DEFRA ALSF database.

Departmental Disabled Staff

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) the executive agencies for which he is responsible are disabled; and what the average salary in (i) his Department and (ii) the executive agencies is of (A) full-time disabled staff, (B) full-time non-disabled staff, (C) part-time disabled staff and (D) part-time non-disabled staff.

Dan Norris: The following table shows the number and percentage of staff in DEFRA and its agencies that have declared that they are disabled. The figures are as at 31 January 2010, except for RPA which are as at 31 March 2009.
	
		
			  Known disabled staff 
			   Number  Percentage of declared  Percentage of all staff 
			 DEFRA 128 19.1 5.1 
			 AH 109 28.4 6.1 
			 CEFAS 30 n/a 5.4 
			 FERA 43 7.9 5.0 
			 MFA 5 13.5 2.1 
			 RPA 304 n/a 10.4 
			 VLA 135 14.3 10.5 
			 VMD 6 10.9 3.7 
			  Key to table : AH-Animal Health CEFAS-Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture Research FERA-Food and Environment Research Agency MFA-Marine and Fisheries Agency RPA-Rural Payments Agency VLA-Veterinary Laboratories Agency VMD-Veterinary Medicines Directorate. 
		
	
	The following table shows the average (mean) salaries of staff who have declared their disability status. Salaries do not include allowances or bonuses. A breakdown by grade grouping has been included for full-time staff in the table, except for CEFAS for whom the information is not available. No breakdown by grade has been provided for part-time staff as the numbers are too small to provide a meaningful comparison. The figures are as at 31 January 2010, except for RPA which are as at 31 March 2009.
	
		
			  Average salaries 
			  £ 
			 Known d isabled  Known non-disabled 
			 DEFRA Full-time AA/AO 21,412 21,024 
			   EO 26,731 26,302 
			   HEO/SEO 33,984 34,269 
			   G7 and above 60,554 53,962 
			   All grades 36,174 38,358 
			  Part-time All grades 37,573 37,461 
			  
			 AH Full-time AA/AO 18,163 18,762 
			   EO 25,142 24,523 
			   HEO/SEO 30,857 30,632 
			   G7 and above 53,036 50,360 
			   All grades 24,529 28,863 
			  Part-time All grades 23,266 25,634 
			  
			 CEFAS Full-time All grades 19,950 25,400 
			  Part-time All grades - 23,810 
			  
			 FERA Full-time AA/AO 16,476 16,803 
			   EO 22,589 22,598 
			   HEO/SEO 33,033 31,197 
			   G7 and above 48,725 50,358 
			   All grades 26,463 28,993 
			  Part-time All grades 26,193 26,296 
			  
			 MFA Full-time AA/AO - 20,734 
			   EO 25,819 24,893 
			   HEO/SEO 30,486 35,962 
			   G7 and above - 51,625 
			   All grades 28,619 33,680 
			  Part-time All grades - - 
			  
			 RPA Full-time AA/AO 18,185 17,773 
			   EO 24,063 23,505 
			   HEO/SEO 29,935 30,827 
			   G7 and above 48,050 51,566 
			   All grades 22,669 23,791 
			  Part-time All grades 20,870 22,128 
			  
			 VLA Full-time AA/AO 18,311 18,292 
			   EO 24,057 24,078 
			   HEO/SEO 34,608 35,972 
			   G7 and above 53,191 54,204 
			   All grades 24,776 26,727 
			  Part-time All grades 22,696 24,688 
			  
			 VMD Full-time AA/AO 21,051 21,502 
			   EO 28,325 26,567 
			   HEO/SEO 34,584 34,887 
			   G7 and above - 51,133 
			   All grades 26,253 31,575 
			  Part-time All grades 34,515 29,693 
			  Key to table : AH-Animal Health CEFAS-Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture Research FERA-Food and Environment Research Agency MFA-Marine and Fisheries Agency RPA-Rural Payments Agency VLA-Veterinary Laboratories Agency VMD-Veterinary Medicines Directorate. 
		
	
	The figures on a grade by grade basis show that the differences between disabled and non-disabled staff are very small. In some grades the average salary of disabled staff are higher than non-disabled staff.
	Although declaring disability status is not mandatory in DEFRA, we do encourage staff to declare their status to enable effective monitoring of HR policies.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many designs for its website his Department has commissioned since 2005.

Dan Norris: DEFRA has commissioned only one website redesign since its creation in 2001. This took place in 2009 and the new-look website was launched on 17 September 2009.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to increase the level of  (a) detection and  (b) enforcement action in respect of incidents of dog fighting.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Police are provided with powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (as amended) for tackling dog fighting. Last year we provided Association of Chief Constables with funding to help police forces to train dedicated "dog legislation officers" who are familiar with the law on dangerous dogs.
	However, it is for chief officers to decide how they target their resources to tackling or reducing crime in their particular force.

Fish: Animal Feed

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether his Department has made an assessment of the effects on the economy of a ban on fishmeal in organic animal feeds; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the likelihood of increased fishmeal usage in organic animal feeds due to the reclassification of fish as a non-agricultural ingredient; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  whether his Department has made an evaluation of the nutritional value of  (a) organic animal feed and  (b) animal feed containing fishmeal; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We are aware that there is considerable concern in the industry about the practicality of complying with the requirement of EU rules for organic production that after 1 January 2012 organic pigs and poultry must be fed entirely on organically produced feed. We understand that providing a diet with a properly balanced protein content using wholly organically produced ingredients is a particular concern because of the difficulties with sourcing the correct protein ingredients for feed for organic pigs and poultry. DEFRA's Advisory Committee on Organic Standards is investigating how this issue might be dealt with, including how the use of fishmeal might contribute to a solution to the problem.

Fisheries: Carbon Emissions

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much in carbon dioxide emissions was given off by the fishing fleet in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005,  (c) 2006,  (d) 2007,  (e) 2008 and  (f) 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Figures are not available in relation to actual emissions from UK fishing vessels. However, an assessment of the total emissions from the fisheries sector for 2006 has been provided in DEFRA's Food 2030 strategy. This states that, as a total of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the UK food chain by sector, fisheries accounted for 1mt of the 160mt CO2e produced.
	Available data over the period of 2000-08 indicates that for the UK fishing fleet there has been a reduction in engine capacity and fishing effort, as well as a move toward less fuel intensive fishing methods. This information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: Development of UK registered fishing fleet ,  as at 1 January 
			   2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  10m and under
			 Number 5,730 5,591 5,527 5,589 5,439 5,404 5,169 
			 Total Tonnage 18,779 18,910 19,018 19,156 18,961 18,895 18,295 
			 Total engine power 277,610 278,475 279,697 284,443 280,079 280,824 274,170 
			  Over 10m
			 Number 2,134 2,060 2,032 1,835 1,700 1,636 1,590 
			 Total Tonnage 248,255 246,152 245,269 221,878 210,380 204,458 199,814 
			 Total engine power 695,590 697,057 717,595 658,274 632,923 620,399 605,541 
			  Total Fleet
			 Number 7,864 7,651 7,559 7,424 7,139 7,040 6,759 
			 Total Tonnage 267,034 265,062 264,287 241,033 229,341 223,353 218,110 
			 Total engine power 973,199 975,533 997,292 942,717 913,003 901,224 879,711 
		
	
	
		
			   2007  2008  2009  Change over period (-ve is reduction)  % change over period (-ve is reduction)  Reduction through decommissioning and pelagic aggregations over period  P eriod due to decomm. Etc. (-ve is reduction) 
			  10m and under
			 Number 5,208 5,243 5,081 -649 -11% - - 
			 Total Tonnage 18,411 18,461 17,923 -856 -5% - - 
			 Total engine power 277,803 281,893 274,598 -3012 -1% - - 
			  Over 10m
			 Number 1,555 1,534 1,506 -628 -29% -329 -15% 
			 Total Tonnage 196,678 194,417 190,048 -58,208 -23% -40,950 -16% 
			 Total engine power 588,310 577,806 564,780 -130,809 -19% -119,726 -17% 
			  Total Fleet
			 Number 6,763 6,777 6,87 -1,277 -16% -329 -4% 
			 Total Tonnage 215,089 212,878 207,971 -59,063 -22% -40,950 -15% 
			 Total engine power 866,113 859,699 839,378 -133,821 -14% -119,726 -12% 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2:  Over 10m UK active fishing fleet - details by data collection regulation segmentation: Segmentation based on fishing effort during the year in question 
			  Heading  Fleet segment  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  % change over period  (-ve is reduction) 
			 Effort - KW Days at sea (million) Mobile - beam trawl 20,552 21,725 18,425 17,650 17,581 16,106 13,208 11,996 8,030 -61 
			  Mobile - demersal trawl/seine 83,921 78,713 70,474 62,743 54,774 49,184 46,050 44,634 45,861 -45 
			  Mobile - dredge 7,235 6,916 6,782 6,446 6,852 7,068 6,405 6,412 5,851 -19 
			  Mobile - pelagic 15,877 15,149 15,544 16,701 17,186 13,568 10,447 11,035 9,439 -41 
			  Mobile - polyvalent 0,268 0,169 0,187 0,212 0,213 0,165 0,085 0,169 0,160 -40 
			  Passive - drift and fixed nets 5,426 5,849 5,748 4,989 4,957 4,303 2,674 2,156 1,963 -64 
			  Passive - gears using hooks 2,268 2,085 2,319 1,286 1,319 1,836 3,036 3,296 3,038 34 
			  Passive - pots and traps 5,918 6,331 6,232 7,170 6,917 6,762 6,654 7,392 6,947 17 
			  Passive - polyvalent 0,140 0,020 0,028 0,027 0,045 0,040 0,000 0,000 0,000 -100 
			  Polyvalent - mobile and passive gears 0,000 0,001 0,014 0,013 0,001 0,001 0,001 0,046 0,024 - 
			 
			  Total active fleet 141,605 136,958 125,752 117,239 109,843 99,033 88,561 87,136 81,312 -43

Oils: Waste Disposal

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has undertaken a life cycle assessment of re-refining waste oils into lubricants by  (a) burning waste oils as recovered fuel oil in European Waste Incineration Directive-compliant plants and  (b) other means of disposal of waste oils.

Dan Norris: DEFRA has not commissioned specific studies on the life cycle assessment of re-refining waste oils into lubricants. However, we are aware of the following life cycle studies conducted by others:
	Ecological and energetic assessment of re-refining used oils to base oils: Substitution of primarily produced base oils including semi-synthetic and synthetic compounds:
	http://www.geir-rerefining.org/documents/LCA_en_short_version.pdf
	OECD Improving Recycling Report ENV/EPOC/WGWPR(2005)3/FINAL:
	http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/14/35582045.pdf
	Critical Review of Existing Studies and Life Cycle Analysis on the Regeneration and Incineration of Waste Oils:
	http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/oil/waste_oil_xsum.pdf

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to encourage chicken producers to meet the conditions of the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Farmers can join a specific assurance scheme or adopt standards which go beyond those required by law if they so wish. The Government encourage membership of the relevant sector assurance schemes such as Red Tractor and Freedom Food. It is not Government's role, however, to promote one specific assurance scheme over another.

Public Holidays

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the introduction of an additional public holiday; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Norris: DEFRA would not incur any additional cost to the pay bill, as staff would merely be paid for a day on which they were not working rather than one on which they were.

Sheep: Slaughterhouses

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made a recent assessment of the effects on  (a) market transparency and  (b) price comparison of variations in standards of sheep carcass dressing; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reinstate the dressing specification previously enforced by the Meat and Livestock Commission.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A report was prepared for DEFRA in November 2008 reviewing the EU carcase classification system for beef and sheep in the light of common agricultural policy reform. This included an assessment of the need for classification in providing transparency.
	Under EU legislation, classification of sheep carcases according to the Community scale remains voluntary for member states. DEFRA has no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make such classification compulsory. Dressing specifications for sheep carcases are a matter for industry supply chains.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade are employed by his Department to assist special advisers.

Shaun Woodward: It is the primary responsibility of one member of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) to assist special advisers. The staff member is at executive officer (EO) level and carries out other tasks too.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Buildings

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on office refurbishments in each of the last 10 years.

Ann McKechin: Under the terms of its building leases the Office is required to maintain the buildings to an acceptable standard of decoration and repair. In the case of the Scotland Office's London premises this includes maintaining a grade one listed building of considerable architectural significance. The Scotland Office does not separately identify the costs of refurbishment from the routine repair and replacement of existing facilities. Over the period of the last 10 years, the Office has shared its accommodation with a number of other Government Departments. The following figures show the gross total for repairs and maintenance of Scotland Office buildings, but does not include the contribution by the Departments towards their share of the costs.
	
		
			   Gross cost (£) 
			 1999-2000 150,354 
			 2000-01 224,719 
			 2001-02 179,335 
			 2002-03 99,310 
			 2003-04 179,853 
			 2004-05 374,129 
			 2005-06 331,803 
			 2006-07 355,071 
			 2007-08(1) 1,011,254 
			 2008-09 401,010 
			 (1) Under the terms of the building leases the Office is required to maintain the buildings to an acceptable standard of decoration and repair, which in 2007-08 included roof and exterior repairs to Dover House in London.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Snow and Ice

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what snow clearance equipment is available at Royal Air Force bases.

Bill Rammell: The RAF has a variety of Snow and Ice Clearance (SNIC) equipment for the purpose of clearing aircraft and their operating surfaces, such as runways, and roads. This ranges from specialist vehicles for clearing snow and ice from runways and aircraft to ploughs and gritters for roads. Details of the types of SNIC equipment held can be found in the following table:
	
		
			  Description  Purpose  Number held 
			 Trailer Sicard Towed runway snow clearing rotating brush and blowers 47 
			 Rolba Self-propelled snow clearing, rotating cutter for deep snow 18 
			 Trailer 600L Team Trailer towed chemical de-icing spray for aircraft dispersal 48 
			 Trailer 2500L Team Trailer towed chemical spray for runway de-icing 20 
			 Hydro-Chafer Trailer towed chemical spray for runway de-icing 3 
			 Trailer 3000L Knights Trailer towed chemical spray for runway de-icing 21 
			 LADS 10,000 Litre Self-propelled runway de-icing with snow plough 9 
			 Douglas Aircraft De-Icer Self propelled high access for aircraft de-icing 12 
			 SDI Aircraft De-icer Self-propelled high access for aircraft de-icing 7 
			 MATT Snow Plough Medium snow plough for clearing up to two inches of snow, aircraft dispersals 45 
			 L Blade Snow Plough Large snow plough for clearing runways (fits to large refueller) 28 
			 K Blade Large snow plough for clearing runways (fits to Schmidt Runway Sweepers) 6 
			 Trailer Road Gritter 2000 Kg Load Loose material spreader for roads 36 
			 Trailer Road Gritter 1000 Kg Load Loose material spreader for roads 9 
			 Land Rover Snow Plough Small plough for road clearing 14 
			 4 Tonne Vehicle Snow Plough Medium snow plough for road clearing 14 
		
	
	These resources are adequate for RAF requirements with priority given to operational stations. When required SNIC assets can be relocated as needed.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long on average each patient stayed at DMRC Headley Court in each month since January 2003.

Kevan Jones: Using information held on the Defence Patient Tracking System (DPTS), the following table presents the average (mean) length of stay in days for in-patients and residential patients admitted into the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Headley Court in each month from October 2008 to November 2009.
	
		
			  Month of Admission  Average ( m ean) length of admission (days) 
			   In-patients  Residential p atients 
			 October 2008 38 17 
			 November 2008 30 17 
			 December 2008 28 13 
			 January 2009 17 21 
			 February 2009 25 19 
			 March 2009 23 18 
			 April 2009 17 19 
			 May 2009 17 16 
			 June 2009 16 18 
			 July 2009 23 19 
			 August 2009 19 21 
			 September 2009 25 18 
			 October 2009 23 19 
			 November 2009 23 20 
			  Notes: 1. Patients include Naval Service Personnel, Army Personnel including those from the Gibraltar Regiment, RAF Personnel, Reservists and UK Civilians. These exclude Special Forces and Other Nations Service Personnel. 2. The DPTS is a live system that is constantly being updated. Therefore data are provisional and subject to change. 3. For any patient admitted more than once as an in-patient or residential patient between October 2008 and November 2009, the length of each admission has been calculated separately. 4. An in-patient is a patient that has been admitted and allocated a ward bed. A residential patient is a patient that is on a three week rehabilitation course; they are not allocated a ward bed, but reside in dormitory style accommodation. 
		
	
	Data prior to this period could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Data for later months is still being compiled, including patients whose stay at Headley Court continues; patients who have not yet completed their stay at DMRC are not included in the figures shown.

Armed Forces: Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there will be Barnett consequentials for Scotland from the funding for the Armed Forces Home Ownership Scheme in England.

Kevan Jones: This pilot scheme for armed forces personnel is being funded from the existing Defence budget. There are no Barnett consequentials.

Armed Forces: Military Decorations

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on awarding medals to members of the armed forces who served in Aden during the period June 1960 to July 1964.

Kevan Jones: The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (known as the HD Committee), which considers cases for new medals and makes recommendations to The Queen, has repeatedly made it clear that it does not revisit cases more than five years after the completion of a military campaign.
	There is no direct ministerial involvement with the Committee.

Army: Lost Property

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many rounds of ammunition have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in each of the last 12 months.

Kevan Jones: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Copthorne Barracks

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the operating costs for Copthorne Barracks were in each financial year since 2001;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the operating costs for Copthorne Barracks in each of the next three years.

Kevan Jones: Due to changes in the accounting systems, costs prior to 2003 are not held. Operating costs for Copthorne Barracks since 2003 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 5.024 
			 2004-05 3.959 
			 2005-06 5.327 
			 2006-07 3.545 
			 2007-08 4.030 
			 2008-09 3.984 
			 2009-10 3.360 
		
	
	Estimated costs for the next three years are as follows;
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2010-11 3.558 
			 2011-12 3.567 
			 2012-13 3.654 
		
	
	The figures have been taken from the operating costs statement and cover property management, utilities and other general infrastructure costs.
	Variations are due to changes in the budgetary structure, activity levels for units in Copthorne Barracks and property management projects.

Copthorne Barracks

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the  (a) medium-term and  (b) long-term future of Copthorne Barracks; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: There are currently no plans to change the use of Copthorne Barracks.
	The structure and organisation of the Army and its supporting infrastructure are kept under constant review.

Departmental Travel

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much  (a) Ministers and  (b) staff of each grade in (i) his Department and (ii) its agencies spent on first class travel in the last 12 months.

Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1224W, to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on departmental rail travel.
	The breakdown of these figures between Ministers and staff by grade/rank is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Future Large Aircraft

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2010,  Official Report, column 773W, on Future Large Aircraft, how much of the £848 million on the A400M programme has been spent under each cost category; and what sums are recoverable should the programme be cancelled.

Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my noble Friend the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Ministry of Defence, Lord Drayson, to the noble Lord, Lord Gilbert of Dudley, in another place on 25 January 2010,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA285. The Government do not expect the project to be cancelled, and we reached agreement in principle on the terms of a renegotiation on 5 March.

Gurkhas

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the cost of the public purse has been of the Gurkha Settlement Office in Kathmandu since its inception;
	(2)  how many applications for settlement initially refused by the Gurkha Settlement Office have been accepted following re-submission through the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation.

Kevan Jones: The Gurkha Settlement Office was opened in October 2009, using existing accommodation and facilities within the British Gurkhas Kathmandu base. It is staffed by four locally employed civilians. The cost of setting up and staffing the office to date is £20,000.
	The Gurkha Settlement Office was not set up to process visa application forms. It offers ex-Gurkhas and their dependants, free of charge, information about life in the UK, so that they can reach an informed decision about whether they want to apply for settlement in this country. If they decide that they do wish to apply, then the Gurkha Settlement Office provides support by helping with the completion of visa application forms and through liaison with the Gurkha Records Office to supply some of the documentation needed to support a visa application. he Gurkha Settlement Office has received nearly 4,000 visits and around 2,000 ex-Gurkhas and/or their dependants have registered on the settlement office database for help with their visa application. Visa applications are processed by the UK Border Agency, in their regional centre in New Delhi. Under the new immigration rules over 6,600 visa applications have been received from ex-Gurkhas and their dependants and over 3,650 visas have been authorised or issued. It is not known how many of these applicants may have sought help from the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation (GAESO) when preparing their application forms.

Nimrod Aircraft

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what long-range maritime cover will be in place following the withdrawal of the Nimrod Mk2s in April 2010 prior to the introduction of the Nimrod Mk4s in 2012.

Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister for the Armed Forces, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell), gave on 1 February 2010,  Official Report, column 47W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox).

Nimrod Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from representatives of  (a) the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and  (b) Oil and Gas UK on the removal from service of the Nimrod MR2.

Bill Rammell: Ministers have received no representations from these bodies on the removal from service of the Nimrod MR2.

Royal Irish Regiment

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many applications for an extension to service beyond the age of 55 with the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment were  (a) approved and  (b) rejected in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 8 March 2010
	 : The number of approved applications to extend service beyond the age of 55 with the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment in each of the specified years was as follows:
	
		
			   Number of approved applications 
			 2005 5 
			 2006 15 
			 2007 (1)- 
			 (1) Denotes fewer than five but more than zero  Note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest five. 
		
	
	Since the disbandment of the Home Service Battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, the number of rejected applications is no longer held.

World War II: Memorials

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department will take steps to commemorate those who died on HMS Lancastria, on the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the ship on 17 June 1940.

Kevan Jones: Each year the whole country pauses in reflection and remembrance of the sacrifice and loss of life for all those who have died as a result of conflict. This includes all of those service personnel and civilians who perished on RMS Lancastria on 17 June 1940.
	The Ministry of Defence has no current plans to commemorate the 70th anniversary. However, during the Merchant Navy Day Commemorative Service due to coincide with the anniversary on 17 June 2010 in Trinity Gardens, Tower Hill, London, particular attention will be given to mark the loss of the many lives on board RMS Lancastria.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Bletchley Park Museum

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding was allocated to the Bletchley Park Museum in each of the last 10 years.

Margaret Hodge: The Bletchley Park Trust received a development grant of £460,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2009, primarily to support the development and improvement of the Bletchley Park Museum.
	Additionally the Bletchley site has benefited from an English Heritage grant of £330,000 in 2008 towards repairs to the roof of the main mansion building.

Cricket: Finance

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will assess the effect on revenues of grass-roots cricket clubs of the inclusion of the Ashes in the list of group A and B sporting events to be covered on terrestrial television.

Ben Bradshaw: Any decision about which sporting events should be listed will take account of the possible impact on the finance of sporting bodies, including grassroots community sports, and on affected broadcasters.
	I will consider this matter fully in light of all the material and views that will be generated by the consultation process which ends on 19 March.

Culture: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated to his Department's Rewired Culture event on 27 March 2010; and how much such funding had been spent on the latest date for which figures are available.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 1 March 2010
	The Rewired Culture event and a publication on digitisation for the cultural sector have an indicative budget of £15,000.

Departmental Databases

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost of installing the Human Resources Information System (Oracle) in his Department has been to date.  [Official Report, 30 March 2010, Vol. 508, c. 9MC.]

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since October 2008, the cost of installing the Oracle Human Resources Information System in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been £544,563.26.

Departmental Databases

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department has spent on external consultants in respect of the Human Resources Information System (Oracle) to date.  [Official Report, 30 March 2010, Vol. 508, c. 10MC.]

Gerry Sutcliffe: Since October 2008, my Department has spent £294,849.19 on external consultants in respect of the Human Resources Information Systems (Oracle).

Departmental Location

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on the relocation of staff from posts in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not spent any money on the relocation of staff from posts in either Essex or Castle Point in the last five years.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade are employed by his Department to assist special advisers.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport employs one full-time equivalent at civil service grade executive officer to assist two special advisers.

Departmental Public Consultation

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on  (a) written consultation,  (b) consultation road shows and  (c) focus groups in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information for departmental spend on written consultations specifically is not held centrally. There have been no consultation road shows in the last three years. For the last three full financial years, the focus groups spend for the Department is in the table. All consultations are published on the Department's website:
	www.culture.gov.uk
	
		
			  Financial year  Departmental focus group spend (£) 
			 2006-07 24,400 
			 2007-08 80,105 
			 2008-09 30,623 
		
	
	Other research commissioned is likely to have included a focus group element but it is not possible to determine the costs of these elements.

Departmental Travel

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) Ministers and  (b) staff of each grade in (i) his Department and (ii) its agency spent on first class travel in the last 12 months.

Margaret Hodge: All travel by Ministers and staff is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.
	The Department's system does not analyse total travel expenditure by grade of staff or class of travel. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	The only information on first class travel which is available and which is for travel pre-booked through the Department's contracted travel agents only, is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Financial year  Ministers  Staff 
			 2009-10(1) 8,490 24,410 
			 2008-09(2) 7,340 46,030 
			 (1) To January 2010. (2) Full year costs.

Foreign Companies: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has provided to organisations or companies registered abroad in each of the last five years.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 25 February 2010
	The Department paid subscriptions to international bodies in each of the last five years as set out in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1) 
			 European Audiovisual Observatory 162,351 177,951 146,721 212,678 239,101 
			  United Nations:  
			 World Tourism Organisation - - - 315,116 113,213 
			 World Heritage Fund 128,443 107,964 125,035 129,159 140,654 
			 World Anti-Doping Association 343,445 358,596 338,757 378,312 475,470 
			  Council of Europe: Enlarged  
			 Partial Agreement on Sport - - 55,533 97,893 - 
			  634,239 644,511 666,046 1,133,158 968,438 
			 (1 )Forecast 
		
	
	Details of other spend with overseas trade suppliers can only be identified at disproportionate cost.

Illegal Immigrants

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff his Department and its agencies have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2005.

Margaret Hodge: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and The Royal Parks Agency have found no illegal immigrants working for them since 2005.

National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills: Thurrock

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent progress has been made on establishing cross-cutting procedures to enable progress to be made on the  (a) funding for and  (b) construction on a site shared with the Royal Opera House campus, Thurrock of the Creative and Cultural Skills Academy.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 4 March 2010
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has worked closely with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Communities and Local Government to progress the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills (NSA) and the Royal Opera House Production Park.
	In November 2009, the Learning and Skills Council committed £5 million to the NSA. Discussions have taken place with the Homes and Communities Agency on funding.
	Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation handed over the Royal Opera House Production Workshops to the Royal Opera House on the 2 March 2010. The completion date for this project is November 2010 and it will house the creation of costumes and scenery.

Public Houses: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many public houses there were in  (a) the London borough of Bexley and  (b) Greater London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has collated annual statistics from licensing authorities relating to alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. This does not identify the number of pubs, as there is no official or established definition of a pub which distinguishes it from other premises which sell alcohol.
	Prior to the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, data were collected by petty sessional division (magistrates court areas) on a triennial basis. As at 30 June 1998, there were 135 public houses in Bexley and 8,844 public houses in London. This definition of a public house includes hotels and premises (other than those licensed under part IV of the Licensing Act 1964) having a justices' on-licence.

Public Libraries: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many public libraries there were in  (a) the London borough of Bexley and  (b) Greater London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009.

Margaret Hodge: Public library statistics are published annually by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). Data for 2009 are not yet available. The total number of service points (including mobile libraries) in Bexley and Greater London open 10 or more hours per week at 31 March 1997 and 2008 are in the table.
	
		
			   1997  2008 
			 London borough of Bexley 15 13 
			 Greater London 405 388

Swimming: Concessions

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 658, what discussions he has had with the Minister for the Olympics on the take up of free swimming initiatives by Bexley borough council; and on what date Bexley borough council commenced offering free swimming.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Secretary of State has had no specific discussions with the Minister for the Olympics on the take up of the free swimming initiative by Bexley borough council.
	Bexley borough council commenced offering free swimming in April 2009.

Swimming: Concessions

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what representations he has received from  (a) members of the public and  (b) local authorities on charging for swimming floats by leisure centres which participate in the Government's free swimming initiative;
	(2)  whether funding provided under his Department's free swimming initiative is intended to cover the use of  (a) swimming floats and  (b) other swimming aids.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has received no representations from members of the public or local authorities on charging for swimming floats by leisure centres which participate in the Government's free swimming initiative.
	The Government provide revenue funding to local authorities who are responsible for the delivery of the Free Swimming Programme. The scheme enables people aged 60 and over and young people aged 16 and under to swim for free.

Theatre: Young People

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding was provided to each theatre participating in the Free Theatre Tickets scheme; and how many tickets each theatre agreed to make available.

Margaret Hodge: Theatres wishing to participate in the A Night Less Ordinary scheme were invited to apply for one of four types of grants by Arts Council England.
	According to the type of venue, the location and the number of tickets each venue expected to be able to give away, participants received either:-
	a multi award of £300 000 for one large West End consortium;
	a premium award of £50,000 for larger ticket allocations;
	a standard award of £30,000 for regular ticket allocations;
	a flexible award of £10,000 for smaller ticket allocations.
	Arts Council England has supplied a full list of participating theatres by award category in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of venue  Region  Band 
			 London Off West End Consortium (Almeida, Battersea Arts Centre, Bush Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Greenwich Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Young Vic) London Multi award 
			 Barbican Centre London Premium 
			 Rose Theatre, Kingston London Premium 
			 National Theatre London Premium 
			 The Marlow Theatre, Canterbury South East Premium 
			 Chichester Festival Theatre South East Premium 
			 HQ Theatres Ltd (Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe; Beck Theatre, Hayes; Southend Theatres; The Wyvern Theatre, Swindon; White Rock Theatre, Hastings) National Premium 
			 The Works (Dance and Theatre Cornwall) (Carn to Cove, representing 62 village halls; The Acorn Arts Centre, Penzance; Sterts Theatre, Upton Cross; The Keay Theatre, St. Austell; Helford Theatre, Truro) South West Premium 
			 Theatre Royal, Plymouth South West Premium 
			 Birmingham Hippodrome West Midlands Premium 
			 Birmingham Rep West Midlands Premium 
			 Malvern Theatres West Midlands Premium 
			 Royal Shakespeare Company West Midlands Premium 
			 West Yorkshire Playhouse Yorkshire Premium 
			 York Royal Theatre Yorkshire Premium 
			 Royal and Derngate, Northampton East Midlands Standard 
			 Nottingham Playhouse East Midlands Standard 
			 The Pleasance Theatre Islington London Standard 
			 Hackney Empire Studio Theatre London Standard 
			 Trafalgar Studios London Standard 
			 Areola Theatre Production Company London Standard 
			 Polka Theatre London Standard 
			 The Churchill, Bromley London Standard 
			 Sunderland Empire North East Standard 
			 North East Newcastle Theatres(Theatre Royal, Northern Stage, Live Theatre) North East Standard 
			 Contact North West Standard 
			 West Cumbria Arts Partnership (Theatre by the Lake, Keswick; Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven; Kirkgate Centre, Cockermouth; The Wave, Maryport; Arts Out West-West Cumbria rural touring scheme) North West Standard 
			 Royal Exchange Theatre North West Standard 
			 Blackpool Grand North West Standard 
			 Dukes Playhouse North West Standard 
			 Oldham Coliseum Theatre North West Standard 
			 The Octagon Theatre, Bolton North West Standard 
			 The Hawth Theatre South East Standard 
			 Milton Keynes Theatre South East Standard 
			 Nuffield Theatre South East Standard 
			 Oxford Playhouse South East Standard 
			 Exeter Northcott Theatre South West Standard 
			 Lighthouse, Poole's Centre for the Arts South West Standard 
			 Belgrade Theatre West Midlands Standard 
			 New Vic Theatre West Midlands Standard 
			 Regent Theatre, Stoke-On-Trent West Midlands Standard 
			 Warwick Arts Centre West Midlands Standard 
			 Hull Truck Theatre Yorkshire Standard 
			 Sheffield Theatres Trust (Crucible Theatre, Lyceum Theatre, Studio Theatre) Yorkshire Standard 
			 Watford Palace Theatre East Flexible 
			 Mercury Theatre East Flexible 
			 The Hat Factory, Luton East Flexible 
			 The Junction East Flexible 
			 South Holland Centre East Midlands Flexible 
			 Derby Live (Assembly Rooms and Guildhall Theatre) East Midlands Flexible 
			 Blue Elephant Theatre London Flexible 
			 Half Moon London Flexible 
			 Tara London Flexible 
			 artsdepot London Flexible 
			 Gate Theatre London Flexible 
			 Millfield Arts Centre London Flexible 
			 The Albany London Flexible 
			 Harrow Arts Centre London Flexible 
			 Orange Tree Theatre London Flexible 
			 Roundhouse London Flexible 
			 Rich Mix London Flexible 
			 Darlington Civic Theatre/Darlington Arts Centre North East Flexible 
			 The Customs House North East Flexible 
			 Forum twenty eight North West Flexible 
			 The Met Arts Centre North West Flexible 
			 Liverpool Everyman Playhouse North West Flexible 
			 Library Theatre Company North West Flexible 
			 Marine Hall and Thornton Little Theatre North West Flexible 
			 Highlights Rural Touring Scheme North West/North East Flexible 
			 Farnham Maltings South East Flexible 
			 Hampshire Small Scale Venues (Ashcroft Arts Centre, Farnham; Forest Arts Centre, New Milton; Havant Arts Centre; West End Centre, Aldershot; Winchester Discovery Centre) South East Flexible 
			 The Live Theatre Winchester Trust (Theatre Royal Winchester, New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth) South East Flexible 
			 Assembly Hall Theatre South East Flexible 
			 South Hill Park Arts Centre South East Flexible 
			 PANeK Consortia (PANeK; Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury; Theatre Royal Margate; Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, South Hill Park Arts Centre) South East Flexible 
			 Merlin Theatre South West Flexible 
			 Arc Theatre Trowbridge South West Flexible 
			 Culture Swindon (Swindon Arts Centre, Artsmad) South West Flexible 
			 Air in G South West Flexible 
			 Oakengates Theatre @ The Palace, Telford West Midlands Flexible 
			 Breaking Boundaries (Ludlow Assembly Rooms, Arts Alive Touring Scheme) West Midlands Flexible 
			 The Drum West Midlands Flexible 
			 Playbox Theatre West Midlands Flexible 
			 Courtyard Centre for the Arts West Midlands Flexible 
			 Lawrence Batley Theatre/LBT Yorkshire Flexible 
			 The Civic Yorkshire Flexible 
			 Lamproom Theatre, Barnsley Yorkshire Flexible 
			 Square Chapel Centre for the Arts Yorkshire Flexible 
			 National Rural Touring Forum Yorkshire Flexible 
			 The Plowright Theatre Yorkshire Flexible 
			 The Carriage Works Yorkshire Flexible 
		
	
	The A Night Less Ordinary scheme plans to make available over 600,000 tickets over two years. Arts Council England cannot provide the number of tickets individual theatres have agreed to make available for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Theatre: Young People

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many young people have used theatre tickets provided under the A Night Less Ordinary scheme since the scheme was introduced.

Margaret Hodge: In the first nine months of the 'A Night Less Ordinary' Scheme 122,818 tickets were given away to young people under 26. There is no central monitoring of the scheme, but we are undertaking a comprehensive evaluation which will include assessment of how many young people took advantage of the scheme and the potential impact on long-term attendance.

Tourism

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what incentives his Department provides to encourage local authorities to support local tourism initiatives.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 1 March 2010
	Responsibility for tourism in the English regions was given to the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in 2003. The RDAs have developed regional tourism strategies, taking into account the needs of, and opportunities for, localities and destinations within their regions.
	The RDAs have invested substantially in tourism development and promotion investing some £60 million in 2008-09. Local authorities are also important partners in supporting the visitor economy. The Local Government Association is represented on the Minister's Tourism Advisory Council and the DCMS engages regularly with local bodies such as the British Resorts and Destinations Association and Destination Performance UK.
	Alongside the marketing campaigns conducted by VisitBritain and VisitEngland, a number of DCMS programmes encourage and enable local authorities to develop and promote their tourism offer. DCMS sponsors Sea Change, which has allocated £38 million to 32 seaside resorts, to support projects for cultural regeneration and the visitor economy. The Renaissance in the Regions programme is a ground-breaking initiative to transform England's regional museums. Renaissance has seen an investment of £242.8 million from 2002-09 and it is anticipated that nearly £300 million will have been invested by March 2011. We have seen recently, in the long queues at Bristol for the Banksy temporary exhibition and at Birmingham for the display of the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo Saxon Gold, how these revitalized museums can encourage tourism.
	Most recently, following on the success of Liverpool European Capital of Culture, the DCMS launched the UK City of Culture competition, challenging bidding cities to develop a substantial programme of cultural activity which leads to a demonstrable step-change in their area, and a lasting legacy. Fourteen cities submitted initial bids, with Birmingham, Derry/Londonderry, Norwich and Sheffield succeeding in being shortlisted. The winning city will be announced in the summer.
	In addition, whilst funding decisions are for local authorities themselves, to make, DCMS supports the Charter for Placemaking and Destination Management, developed through the Partners for England initiative, which provides guidance to local authorities on promoting, developing and measuring tourism, and on working with the industry and public sector partners. Local authority support and engagement will also be addressed in the England tourism strategy, currently being developed by VisitEngland.

Tourism

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has made an investigation into the reasons for the closure of tourist and visitor centres in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has discussed the issue of Tourist Information Centre (TICs) closures with VisitEngland, and the Regional Development Agencies.
	VisitEngland are undertaking some work to establish how many TICs are closing and what local authorities are doing to provide appropriate information to tourists in their area.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Disabled Staff

Mark Harper: To ask the Solicitor-General how many and what proportion of staff of the Law Officers' Departments are disabled; and what the average salary in the Law Officers' Departments is of  (a) full-time disabled staff,  (b) full-time non-disabled staff,  (c) part-time disabled staff and  (d) part-time non-disabled staff.

Vera Baird: The Law Officers' Departments routinely provide information on the numbers of disabled staff and average salaries to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who periodically publish this data on behalf of the whole civil service. The latest available figures were published on 20 January 2010. Specific information relating to the Law Officers' Departments is outlined in the following tables.
	
		
			  Employment by Department and disability status( 1) 
			  Attorney-General's Departments  Disabled  Non-disabled  Not declared or non-response  Total  All employees with known disability status  Disabled employees as percentage of known disability status 
			 CPS 330 6,780 1,580 8,690 7,110 4.7 
			 HMCPSI - 30 10 50 30 - 
			 AGO - 30 20 40 30 - 
			 RCPO(2) 10 180 160 350 200 6.6 
			 SFO 20 240 60 320 260 6.6 
			 TSol 40 700 80 830 750 5.9 
			 NFA(3) - 20 20 50 20 - 
			 (1) For each column the numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and numbers less than five are not shown to protect staff confidentiality. The total column will therefore not necessarily equal the sum of the preceding three columns. (2) HMRCPO have since merged with CPS in January 2010. (3) Data for NFA has not been collated or published by ONS. The data provided is based on the latest available data. 
		
	
	
		
			  Median earnings by Department and disability status( 1) 
			  Attorney-General's Departments  Full-time non-disabled  Full-time disabled  Part-time non-disabled  Part-time disabled 
			 CPS 27,120 29,520 25,080 25,080 
			 HMCPSI 47,540 - - - 
			 AGO 24,440 - - - 
			 HMRCPC(2) 28,250 31,490 28,120 - 
			 SFO 29,200 26,220 26,970 - 
			 TSol 46,160 26,480 58,270 - 
			 NFA(3) 48,840 - - - 
			 (1) Salaries in this table represent the full-time equivalent salaries of employees rounded to the nearest 10. Earnings are not shown where there are less than five members to protect staff confidentiality. (2) HMRCPO have since merged with CPS in January 2010. (3) Data for NFA has not been collated or published by ONS. The data provided is based on the latest available data.

Trade Unions

Robert Syms: To ask the Solicitor-General how many days staff of the Law Officers' Departments spent on trade union activity in the latest year for which figures are available; and what recent estimate she has made of the annual cost to the public purse of such activity.

Vera Baird: No days were spent by staff members of the Attorney-General's Office or the National Fraud Authority on trade union activity in 2008-09.
	HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate has a Whitley council which meets quarterly and is attended by FDA and PCS representatives. Where it is necessary for union representatives to devote time to specific activities on personal cases, this is done by agreement with their line manager. No formal record is maintained.
	The Serious Fraud Office does not record details on the number of days spent by staff engaged on trade union activities.
	Information on the Treasury Solicitors Department (TSol) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  Department  Estimate of the number of days spent on union activities 2008-09  Estimated cost( 1)  (£) 
			 TSol 354 37,212 
			 CPS(2) 4,068 535,915 
			 (1) These are estimates based on the average pay grade of staff involved in trade union activity. (2)( )The CPS data includes figures for HMRCPO which merged with CPS in January 2010. 126 days were spent on trade union activities by HMRCPO officials at an estimated cost of £18,791.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

World Water Day

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans his Department has to mark World Water Day.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) will mark this important occasion by hosting an event shortly before World Water Day. During the event we will hear what action our stakeholders are taking to address the millennium development goals for water and sanitation, and how best DFID can continue to support their efforts. DFID will also seek to raise awareness of the important of access to water and sanitation for poverty reduction through our website, newsletters and the release of a new publication, reporting on the work we have done to help poor people get access to water and sanitation.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Buildings

Philip Hammond: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what major refurbishments have been carried out on the House of Commons Estate in the last five years; and what the cost was of each such refurbishment.

Nick Harvey: Major refurbishments carried out in the last five years, taken to mean construction projects to improve existing facilities on the Commons part of the parliamentary estate where expenditure has been more than £1 million during the period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2009, have been shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Refurbishment  Cost in five - year period (£) 
			 Press Gallery refurbishment of offices and catering 8,178,902 
			 7 Millbank cooling 2,730,004 
			 Install data wiring and refurbish-Phase 10B Palace of Westminster 2,634,328 
			 Install data wiring and refurbish-Phase 10A Palace of Westminster 2,025,505 
			 Relocate mechanical and electrical services and underpin south stairs 1,593,201 
			 Boiler, chiller and summer boiler 2002-05 1,582,190 
			 Install air conditioning and restore committee rooms 11, 12, 13 1,552,823 
			 Bellamy's Cafeteria modernisation 1,410,510 
			 Mechanical and electrical modernisation-Palace of Westminster 1,331,382

Nurseries

Christopher Chope: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what advice the House of Commons Commission has sought from the Finance and Services Committee on the cost of replacing Bellamy's Bar, the Astor Suite and Bellamy's Clubroom with a day nursery.

Nick Harvey: The Commission considered it important to have the planned nursery facility operating early in the new Parliament, before new Members had made other child care arrangements. This is a challenging timescale, given the need for listed building consent and consent for change of use, the time required to make the premises ready and the requirement to pass the Ofsted inspection and be registered with Ofsted. In view of the time constraints, the Commission decided it was not feasible to seek advice from the Finance and Services Committee.

Nurseries

Christopher Chope: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will place in the Library a copy of the full business case for the replacement of Bellamy's Bar, the Astor Suite and Bellamy's Clubroom by a day nursery.

Nick Harvey: The full business case is being prepared for submission to the Clerk of the House. Such documents necessarily contain commercially confidential information, the disclosure of which would damage the commercial interests of the House.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on marketing and advertising to encourage the responsible consumption of alcohol in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: The alcohol harm reduction campaign began in 2006-07 and was run in conjunction with the Home Office until the end of financial year 2008-09. The table shows the Department's advertising expenditure in these years and does not include spending undertaken by the Home Office.
	The figure for the current financial year (2009-10) is provisional until records are fully audited at the end of the financial year.
	
		
			  Financial year  Expenditure (£) 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 559,883 
			 2007-08 612,792 
			 2008-09 4,771,921 
			 2009-10 3,584,733 
		
	
	The figures do not include recruitment or classified advertising costs. Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, Central Office of Information commission and VAT). All figures exclude advertising rebates and audit adjustments and therefore may differ from Central Office of Information official turnover figures.
	The advertising campaign is supported by activity in the national health service, for example, the distribution of information materials about the health harms associated with alcohol consumption and practical advice for people considering drinking less. However, figures on expenditure within the NHS are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Aortic Aneurysm: Screening

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of bringing forward the timetable for full implementation of the NHS abdominal aortic screening programme, with particular reference to  (a) feasibility,  (b) cost and  (c) the likely effects on mortality rates of the early implementation of that programme.

Ann Keen: Immediate implementation was considered as an option and a full analysis of the cost and mortality rates of this approach was made and compared to the analysis of phased implementation. However in common with all other national screening programmes, this programme needs to have a managed national roll out to realise the benefits of the combination of screening to safe and effective standards. Early implementation would not have allowed sufficient time to reorganise treatment services in order to minimise mortality and morbidity in patients having planned surgery.

Autism: Drugs

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has issued to clinicians on the use of chlorpromazine hydrochloride for the treatment of patients diagnosed with autism;
	(2)  what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) reviewed on the potential risks to health and other side effects of chlorpromazine hydrochloride prescribed for the treatment of people diagnosed with autism in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many fatalities of people diagnosed with autism associated with the use of chlorpromazine hydrochloride and other anti-psychotic medication there were in the last 10 years.;
	(4)  what guidelines his Department has issued on medication prescribed for the treatment of people diagnosed with autism; and what guidelines are in force on the use of anti-psychotic medication for people with autistic spectrum disorders.

Mike O'Brien: Since the marketing of chlorpromazine, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in conjunction with its independent scientific advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) and its predecessors, has kept the safety of chlorpromazine and other anti-psychotics under close review. Prescribing guidance has been updated to reflect new safety data and the MHRA has also informed health care professionals and patients of the updated prescribing guidance through the regular drug safety bulletin, Drug Safety Update, and information posted on the MHRA website.
	Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the MHRA and CHM through the Yellow Card Scheme. During the time period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2009, the MHRA has received a total of 18 spontaneous suspected fatal ADR reports associated with chlorpromazine in the United Kingdom. None of these cases describe an indication for use of autism or have provided a medical history of the patient having autism. During this 10 year period a total of 39 fatal reports for all anti-psychotics listed the indication as ''learning disorder/disability' or 'behavioural disorder' or had a medical history of autism, asperger's disorder, learning disability or behavioural disorder.
	The use of medication such as anti-psychotic drugs for behaviour problems is an issue that will most likely be addressed in the clinical guidelines for autistic spectrum disorders in adults and children currently being developed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE have not yet indicated when it expects this guidance to be issued to be available to the national health service.

Autism: Health Services

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that the national autism strategy provides guidance on reasonable adjustments that public service providers can make to support adults with autism.

Phil Hope: The Government's strategy for adults with autism in England, 'Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives', was published on 3 March 2010 and is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_113369
	Copies have been placed in the Library.
	The strategy reiterates the requirement under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 for services to make reasonable adjustments for disabled adults-this includes adults with autism. Within the strategy we have committed to delivering guidance to indicate the kinds of adjustments that might be usefully made, from physical adjustments to premises to improving the ways those delivering services communicate with adults with autism.
	Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has also underlined its commitment to making adjustments for adults with autism using Jobcentre Plus services. As well as making any required reasonable adjustments-such as making use of the most suitable environment or premises for conducting work focused interviews DWP will also ensure Jobcentre Plus advisers are aware of both the need to make suitable adjustments for adults with autism and of the kinds of adjustments that may be beneficial.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade are employed by his Department to assist special advisers.

Phil Hope: Two full-time executive officers assist the special advisers.

Departmental Paper

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) suppliers and  (b) brands of (i) paper and (ii) paper products his Department uses; and what his Department's policy is on the procurement of those materials.

Phil Hope: Paper purchased by the Department is purchased through the Department's office supplies contract with Office Depot or through the Central Office of Information (COI) for print and published material. The majority of general printing and copying paper used by the Department is Evolve Everyday or Niceday, 80 gsm, in A3/4/5 sizes. Other paper purchased is from Office Depot or Niceday Environmental (FSC) range.
	All of the Department's print and publishing is through COI and paper is purchased by them from companies on the COI EU tendered Framework. Various papers are purchased with 50-100 per cent. recycled content. On rare occasions when viable recycled products are not available other FSC or PEFC virgin fibre products may be purchased.
	Paper products purchased by the Department's cleaning contractor, Resource FM, and consist of toilet paper and paper towels. All toilet paper is Scott Performance 4476, which has a 100 per cent. recycled content. All paper towels purchased by the Department are Wypall Centre Feed, which has 100 per cent. recycled content.
	Swantex paper napkins are provided by the Department's catering contractor, Quadrant Catering Ltd. These are either 100 per cent, recycled content or 10-40 per cent. part recycled and dyed using food dyes.
	The Department is committed to only purchasing paper and paper products that conform to the Government's Buy Sustainable-Quick Wins minimum environmental specifications.

General Practitioners: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people registered with general practitioners in the London borough of Bexley in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: Information is not available in the format requested. Following is the number of general practitioner (GP)-registered patients in Bexley Care Trust.
	
		
			  Bexley Care Trust  Number 
			 2002 210,757 
			 2003 214,146 
			 2004 221,325 
			 2005 222,192 
			 2006 223,474 
			 2007 222,019 
			 2008 223,043 
			  Notes: 1. It is not possible to provide comparable work force data for this organisation prior to the formation of the primary care trust in 2002. 2. Figures provided show numbers of patients registered with a GP as at 30 September each year. Data on patient transactions or newly registered patients is not available on the annual GP Census.  Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

General Practitioners: Fees and Charges

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations he has received on the levels of charges made by some general practitioners to their patients for a letter in support of applications for disability living allowance and attendance allowance; if he will bring forward proposals to reimburse people who pay such charges; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: None.
	Under the terms of their contract with their primary care trust, general practitioners (GPs) are required to issue certain medical certificates, free of charge, which are reasonably required in support of claims for benefits and allowances-such as disability living allowance and attendance allowance. Where patients choose to provide medical information in support of their claim, that is not a mandatory part of the application, the GP may choose to charge a fee.
	If further medical evidence is required by the Department of Work and Pensions, they will contact the patient's GP and pay any fees.

Health Services: Guernsey

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of  (a) emergency and  (b) non-emergency treatment of people from Guernsey in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 8 March 2010,  Official Report, columns 58-60W.

Home Care Services: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 296W, on social services: finance, which of his Department's communication and advertising budgets will be affected by the changes to planned expenditure to cover funding of the provisions of the Personal Care at Home Bill; and how much will be taken from each budget.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on 8 December 2009,  Official Report, column 296W.

Hospitals: Consultants

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department provides to NHS hospitals on daily hours of consultant cover in  (a) maternity units,  (b) paediatric assessment units and  (c) accident and emergency departments.

Ann Keen: The medical Royal Colleges advise on clinical standards. It is for local national health service organisations determine the medical skill mix they require to provide safe and high quality clinical care.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of infection per  (a) 1,000 hospital bed days and  (b) 1,000 patients admitted to hospital there were in 2005.

Ann Keen: Information on all infections is not collected centrally. However, data on the main infections covered by mandatory surveillance, methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infections and  Clostridium difficile infections, are given in the following table.
	
		
			   MRSA( 1)  Clostridium difficile (65 years or older)( 2) 
			 Number of cases reported 7,096 51,829 
			 Cases of infection per 1,000 bed days 0.18 2.15 
			 Cases of infection per 1,000 admissions 0.86 21.22 
			 (1) Data on MRSA cases, bed days (KH03) and admissions are for the 2005-06 financial year. (2) Based on 2005 calendar year. Prior to April 2007,  C. difficile data were only collected for those aged 65 and over. Bed days are from Hospital Episode Statistics. The number of  C. difficile cases and rates were based on data from 171 of 173 trusts, as complete data are not available for two trusts.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects on numbers of  (a) hospital-acquired infections and  (b) patients entering hospitals with infections.

Ann Keen: The mandatory surveillance system collects numbers of reports for the following pathogens that are usually considered healthcare associated infections and surgical procedures:
	methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemias;
	 Clostridium difficile infections (CDI);
	glycopeptide-resistant enterococci (GRE) bacteraemias; and
	selected orthopaedic surgical site infections (SSIs).
	It is not easy to ascertain where an infection has been acquired and these datasets include both infections acquired in hospital and in other settings. However, the MRSA and CDI system now allow for indirect identification of cases that may have been acquired within the reporting trust by calculating the elapsed time between a patient's admission date and specimen date.
	While MRSA bacteraemias and CDI present on admission can be identified, a proportion of these are likely to be associated with a previous hospital admission.

Maternity Services

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many newborn babies experienced methadone withdrawal in the latest period for which figures are available; and what treatments are used in the NHS for the symptoms of withdrawal.

Gillian Merron: Data on the number of babies born with neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of illicit or therapeutic drugs are collected, but are not broken down by type of drug.
	In 2008-09, 1,233 babies were born with neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of illicit or therapeutic drugs.(1)
	The Department and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse have issued guidance to the national health service to ensure that mothers in this situation are supported and monitored, and the health needs of the baby assessed to minimise any health risks.
	Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is in the process of producing clinical guidelines for pregnant women with complex social factors, including substance misuse problems.
	 Source:
	(1) Hospital Episode Statistics, The Information Centre for health and social care

Medical Treatments Abroad

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) E112 authorisations and  (b) Article 49 authorisations for each type of treatment there have been in each year since 1998;
	(2)  how many patients have been referred abroad for each treatment in respect of which there were no facilities in the UK in each year since 1998.

Gillian Merron: A patient may be issued an E112 form and referred to another member state of the European Economic Area or Switzerland for treatment, if they would experience undue delay for that same treatment under their state health care system.
	Alternatively, a patient may choose to access health care services in another member state under article 49 (now article 56 of the Lisbon treaty). The responsibility for authorising reimbursement of health costs under article 49 is devolved to primary care trusts, and there is no central collection of the data.
	The following table shows the number of E112s, and the number of those that relate to maternity care, issued by the United Kingdom in the years 1998-2009 member states have agreed that it is appropriate to issue the form E112 on a discretionary basis to expectant mothers who wish to give birth in another member state, regardless of capacity. Data relating to each specific treatment are held centrally, however to process the data and present it by treatment type would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Calendar year  E112s issued  Number of E112s relating to maternity care 
			 1998 891 304 
			 1999 994 291 
			 2000 1,289 336 
			 2001 1,266 369 
			 2002 1,393 368 
			 2003 1,287 359 
			 2004 503 141 
			 2005 360 128 
			 2006 412 273 
			 2007 534 402 
			 2008 1,471 1,027 
			 2009 1,379 1,228

Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence received by his Department from the Healthcare Commission on the Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008.

Mike O'Brien: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Midwives: Manpower

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent midwives were working in the NHS organisation in each year since 1997; and how many were working in each NHS organisation in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent midwives employed within the national health service in each year since 1997 and a separate table outlining the number of midwives working in each NHS organisation in each of the last three years has been placed in the Library.
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified midwifery staff in England as at 30 September each specified year 
			  Registered midwives  Full-time equivalent 
			 1997 18,053 
			 1998 18,168 
			 1999 17,876 
			 2000 17,662 
			 2001 18,048 
			 2002 18,119 
			 2003 18,444 
			 2004 18,854 
			 2005 18,949 
			 2006 18,862 
			 2007 19,298 
			 2008 19,639 
			  Source: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patient deaths have been caused by myelodysplastic syndromes in each year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many patient deaths have be caused by myelodysplastic syndromes in each year for which figures are available. (321379)
	The table attached provides the number of deaths where the underlying cause was myelodysplastic syndromes in England and Wales, for the years 2001 to 2008 (the latest year available).
	It is not possible from the information given at death registration to state whether the deceased was a patient at the time of death.
	Individual causes of death are coded by ONS using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Myelodyplastic syndromes are given a specific ICD-10 code (D46), however equivalent information is not readily available for years before 2001, when an earlier version of the International Classification of Diseases was in use.
	
		
			  Table 1. Number of deaths where the underlying cause was myelodysplastic syndromes, England and Wales, 2001-08( 1, 2, 3) 
			   Deaths (persons) 
			 2001 995 
			 2002 1,010 
			 2003 1,010 
			 2004 937 
			 2005 917 
			 2006 916 
			 2007 963 
			 2008 963 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code D46 'Myelodysplastic syndromes'. (2) Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individual funding requests for the drug azacitidine were received by primary care trusts in the last 12 months; and how many were  (a) accepted and  (b) rejected.

Mike O'Brien: This information is not collected centrally.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what account his Department takes of mortality rates at NHS trusts when deciding whether trusts' applications for foundation status can proceed to Monitor.

Mike O'Brien: A significant part of the Department's assessment of national health service foundation trust applications is the consideration of the quality of care provided at each organisation. This review of quality includes an explicit consideration of hospital standardised mortality rates, alongside other care quality indicators such as patient surveys and safety indicators.
	Since April 2009 the Department's assessment has also included the consideration of each application by the NHS Medical Director. His satisfaction with an organisation is required prior to Ministers considering whether to support a foundation trust application. The NHS Medical Director considers a range of quality related intelligence, including hospital standardised mortality rates, in forming his view on each trust.

NHS: Assets

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the total cost of backlog maintenance in respect of  (a) high,  (b) significant,  (c) moderate and  (d) low risk in (i) England and (ii) each NHS organisation according to data from Estates Return Information Collection returns in each financial year from 1997-98 to 2008-09.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Levels of backlog maintenance categorised by risk were not collected prior to 2004-05. The information relating to each national health service organisation from 2004-05 onwards has been placed in the Library.
	Total cost of backlog maintenance cost for England, categorised by risk, is in the table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Backlog maintenance 
			  Risk level  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 High risk 358.2 329.9 307.6 309.7 267.9 
			 Significant risk 778.2 982.2 943.4 1,119.8 1,175.7 
			 Moderate risk 902.1 1,219.4 1,231.5 1,394.6 1,452.8 
			 Low risk 1,103.2 1,152.1 1,257.4 1,219.5 1,188.3 
			 Total 3,141.7 3,683.6 3,739.9 4,043.6 4,084.7 
		
	
	The Department collects data on backlog maintenance annually from NHS trusts through its estates return information collection. This data has not been amended centrally and its accuracy is the responsibility of the contributing NHS organisations.
	NHS organisations are locally responsible for the provision and maintenance of their facilities. This includes planning and investment to reduce backlog maintenance.
	The Government have introduced 100 new hospital schemes which have increased capacity and provided the opportunity to reduce backlog maintenance.

NHS: Procurement

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 753W, on the NHS, when he expects the PCT Procurement Guide to be published.

Mike O'Brien: The revised PCT Procurement Guide is due to be published before the end of March.

NHS: Public Relations

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments NHS North West has made to  (a) Communiqué and  (b) Burston Marsteller; for what services; and on what dates.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. The Department does not collect information on payments made by national health service bodies to their suppliers. This information may be obtained direct from the North West Strategic Health Authority.

Obesity: Children

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of children in  (a) Hampshire Primary Care Trust,  (b) Southampton Primary Care Trust and  (c) nationally were recognised as clinically obese in each age group in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The information is not available in the format requested. Data are not held nationally on children who have been diagnosed as clinically obese.
	Children trend table 4 in the 'Health Survey for England-2008 trend tables' contains the percentage of children aged two to 10 and 11 to 15 in England who are obese in each year between 2004-08. This information has already been placed in the Library. Information is not available by primary care trust (PCT).
	Further information on the proportion of children who are obese in England is collected through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). Table A in the NCMP main report shows the prevalence of obese children aged four to five years and 10 to 11 years in Hampshire PCT and Southampton PCT between 2006-07 and 2008-09. This information has already been placed in the Library.

Obesity: Surgery

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each age group in  (a) Hampshire Primary Care Trust,  (b) Southampton Primary Care Trust and  (c) nationally have received gastric surgery of each type for the treatment of obesity in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: This information has been placed in the Library.

Primary Care Trusts: Contracts

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers a primary care trust has to influence the result of the sale of the remaining part of a contract with a private provider of out-of-hours care to a different provider; and what account primary care trusts take of local support for private providers in exercising such powers.

Mike O'Brien: A primary care trust (PCT) should be able to influence the sale of the remainder of a contract to the extent that was set out in the original contract between the PCT and the original out of hours provider.
	In exerting any influence a PCT should ensure that it considers the implications for continuity and quality of care as well as value for money.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many cases of sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in  (a) under 12 year-olds,  (b) 13 to 15 year-olds,  (c) 16 and 17 year-olds and  (d) people aged 18 years old or more in each region in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many cases of  (a) herpes,  (b) Chlamydia,  (c) HIV,  (d) syphilis and  (e) gonorrhoea were diagnosed in people of each age group in each region in each year since 1997.

Gillian Merron: Information on the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections is not collected in the form requested.
	Information on the number of diagnoses for herpes, Chlamydia, HIV, syphilis and gonorrhoea for people under 16, between 16-19 and 20 and over has been placed in the Library.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) males and  (b) females were diagnosed with (i) syphilis, (ii) gonorrhoea, (iii) Chlamydia (uncomplicated), (iv) herpes (first incidence), (v) genital warts (first incidence), (vi) HIV/AIDS, (vii) trichomonas vaginalis and (viii) non-specific urethritis in (A) the Mid-Essex Hospital Trust area and (B) Essex in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: Data are only available on the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics by strategic health authority (SHA). Table 1 gives the number of diagnoses for syphilis, gonorrhoea, Chlamydia (uncomplicated), herpes (first incidence), HIV, trichomoniasis, non-specific urethritis in the East of England SHA between 2006 and 2008, the latest date for which figures are available.
	Table 2 gives data for the number of new HIV diagnoses in Essex County and Mid Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) between 2006 and 2008 the latest date for which figures are available.
	In addition to STIs diagnosed in GUM clinics, the National Chlamydia Screening programme (NCSP) provides Chlamydia screening to asymptomatic people under the age of 25 in England. The NCSP was launched in 2003 when a phased implementation programme started. Table 3 includes the number of diagnoses of Chlamydia in patients between the ages of 15-24 years in Mid Essex, North East Essex and West Essex PCTs between 2006 to 2009, the latest date for which figures are available.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of new HIV diagnoses from all services and sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics and in the National Chlamydia Screening programme (NCSP) in East of England, by sex: 2006-09 (calendar year) 
			  Service  STI  Year  Male  Female  Total( 1) 
			 Diagnostic Services HIV 2006 254 293 547 
			 Diagnostic Services HIV 2007 275 244 519 
			 Diagnostic Services HIV 2008 239 232 471 
			 Diagnostic Services HIV 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Syphilis (primary and secondary) 2006 72 9 81 
			 GUM clinics Syphilis (primary and secondary) 2007 59 10 69 
			 GUM clinics Syphilis (primary and secondary) 2008 55 16 71 
			 GUM clinics Syphilis (primary and secondary) 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Gonorrhoea (uncomplicated) 2006 560 279 839 
			 GUM clinics Gonorrhoea (uncomplicated) 2007 539 260 799 
			 GUM clinics Gonorrhoea (uncomplicated) 2008 519 306 825 
			 GUM clinics Gonorrhoea (uncomplicated) 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Genital herpes (first incidence) 2006 641 1,093 1,734 
			 GUM clinics Genital herpes (first incidence) 2007 608 1,275 1,883 
			 GUM clinics Genital herpes (first incidence) 2008 705 1,370 2,075 
			 GUM clinics Genital herpes (first incidence) 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Genital warts 2006 3,483 3,209 6,692 
			 GUM clinics Genital warts 2007 3,690 3,457 7,147 
			 GUM clinics Genital warts 2008 3,825 3,508 7,333 
			 GUM clinics Genital warts 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Trichomoniasis 2006 16 290 306 
			 GUM clinics Trichomoniasis 2007 13 286 299 
			 GUM clinics Trichomoniasis 2008 14 308 322 
			 GUM clinics Trichomoniasis 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Non-specific urethritis 2006 7,438 948 8,386 
			 GUM clinics Non-specific urethritis 2007 7,651 776 8,427 
			 GUM clinics Non-specific urethritis 2008 7,530 625 8,155 
			 GUM clinics Non-specific urethritis 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 GUM clinics Chlamydia (uncomplicated) 2006 3,745 4,557 8,302 
			 GUM clinics Chlamydia (uncomplicated) 2007 4,519 5,215 9,734 
			 GUM clinics Chlamydia (uncomplicated) 2008 4,787 5,291 10,078 
			 GUM clinics Chlamydia (uncomplicated) 2009 n/a n/a n/a 
			 NCSP Chlamydia 2006 267 1,132 1,399 
			 NCSP Chlamydia 2007 488 1,235 1,724 
			 NCSP Chlamydia 2008(2) 1,171 3,637 4,835 
			 NCSP Chlamydia 2009 2,189 5,574 7,796 
			 (1) Total includes those with unknown/unspecified sex. Therefore the sum of male and female diagnoses might not equal the total number of diagnoses. (2) NCSP data for 2008 includes non NCSP non GUM information reported for the period 1 April 2008 - 31 December 2008.  Notes:  New HIV Diagnoses data: 1. Numbers will rise as further reports are received. 2. Diagnoses are from reports received to end December 2009. 3. Patients may live with HIV for many years before they are diagnosed. Therefore new diagnosis data does not necessarily reflect recently acquired infections. 4. Areas when presented are area of diagnosis and not of residence, there is evidence that a large proportion of individuals are diagnosed outside their PCT of residence. 5. Data are unavailable for 2009.  Source: Health Protection Agency, New HIV diagnoses in the United Kingdom. Date of data: 31 December 2009  GUM data: 1. Data are only provided at the SHA level. 2. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as General Practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 3. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. 4. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. 5. Data are unavailable for 2009.  Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns. Date of data: July 2009  NCSP data: 1. NCSP data consist of returns from the NCSP core dataset and non NCSP non GUM laboratory returns. 2. The NCSP has been phased in since 1 April 2003 with all 152 PCTs reporting data to the programme since March 2008. Non NCSP non GUM data have been collected since 1 April 2008 from laboratories in England and are reported to the NCSP. Therefore note that numbers of diagnoses have risen substantially as an increasing proportion of the target population have been tested. 3. Data are based on those aged 15-24 years inclusive. 4. Data are presented by PCT of residence and exclude those resident outside of England. 5. Data available from the NCSP are the number of diagnoses made and not the number of patients diagnosed. 6. Data presented are based on tests with confirmed positive diagnoses only.  Source: The National Chlamydia Screening programme Core dataset. Date of data: 3 February 2010; Non NCSP non GUM data. Date of data: 03 March 2010 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of new HIV diagnoses from all services in Essex county and Mid Essex PCT, by sex: 2006-08 (calendar year) 
			  Area  STI  Year  Male  Female  Total 
			 Mid Essex HIV 2006 7 12 19 
			 Mid Essex HIV 2007 16 13 29 
			 Mid Essex HIV 2008 7 5 12 
			 Essex County HIV 2006 76 99 175 
			 Essex County HIV 2007 83 91 174 
			 Essex County HIV 2008 51 63 114 
			  Notes: 1. Numbers will rise as further reports are received. 2. Diagnoses are from reports received to end December 2009. 3. Patients may live with HIV for many years before they are diagnosed. Therefore new diagnosis data does not necessarily reflect recently acquired infections. 4. Areas when presented are area of diagnosis and not of residence, there is evidence that a large proportion of individuals are diagnosed outside their PCT of residence. 5. Mid Essex PCT includes hospitals in the Mid Essex Hospital Trust area. 6. Data are unavailable for 2009.  Source: Health Protection Agency, New HIV diagnoses in the United Kingdom. Date of data: 31 December 2009 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of  Chlamydia  diagnoses outside of GUM within Essex  c ounty, by PCT and sex: 2006-09 (calendar year) 
			  Area  STI  Year  Male  Female  Total( 1) 
			 Mid Essex Chlamydia 2006 0 5 5 
			 Mid Essex Chlamydia 2007 5 12 17 
			 Mid Essex Chlamydia 2008(2) 56 135 192 
			 Mid Essex Chlamydia 2009 210 334 544 
			 North East Essex Chlamydia 2006 5 0 5 
			 North East Essex Chlamydia 2007 5 5 7 
			 North East Essex Chlamydia 2008(2) 162 301 465 
			 North East Essex Chlamydia 2009 237 524 763 
			 South East Essex Chlamydia 2006 31 193 224 
			 South East Essex Chlamydia 2007 87 190 277 
			 South East Essex Chlamydia 2008(2) 106 354 462 
			 South East Essex Chlamydia 2009 149 418 569 
			 South West Essex Chlamydia 2006 9 22 31 
			 South West Essex Chlamydia 2007 26 93 119 
			 South West Essex Chlamydia 2008(2) 85 283 373 
			 South West Essex Chlamydia 2009 140 408 549 
			 West Essex Chlamydia 2006 5 5 10 
			 West Essex Chlamydia 2007 6 32 38 
			 West Essex Chlamydia 2008(2) 48 138 186 
			 West Essex Chlamydia 2009 47 201 251 
			 (1) Total includes those with unknown/unspecified sex. Therefore the sum of male and female diagnoses might not equal the total number of diagnoses. Cells with numbers less than five and cells with the second lowest value where appropriate have been masked. (2) NCSP data for 2008 includes non NCSP non GUM information reported for the period 1 April 2008-31 December 2008.  Notes: 1. NCSP data consist of returns from the NCSP core dataset and non NCSP non GUM laboratory returns. 2. The NCSP has been phased in since 1 April 2003 with all 152 PCTs reporting data to the programme since March 2008. Non NCSP non GUM data have been collected since 1 April 2008 from laboratories in England and are reported to the NCSP. Therefore note that numbers of diagnoses have risen substantially as an increasing proportion of the target population have been tested. 3. Data are based on those aged 15-24 years inclusive. 4. Data are presented by PCT of residence and exclude those resident outside of England. 5. Data available from the NCSP are the number of diagnoses made and not the number of patients diagnosed. 6. Data presented are based on tests with confirmed positive diagnoses only.  Source: The National Chlamydia Screening programme core dataset. Date of data: 3 February 2010, Non NCSP non GUM data. Date of data: 3 March 2010.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much funding has been allocated to Baroness Stern's review of the treatment of survivors of rape by the police and other agencies in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office jointly commissioned the Stern Review with the Home Office.
	Baroness Stern's review of rape reporting in England and Wales has been allocated up to a maximum of £170,000 programme spend.
	In the course of her review, Baroness Stern has consulted widely with key stakeholders in all English regions and Wales, including police forces, local authorities, the Crown Prosecution Service, the health service and third sector organisations. She is also taking into account the work of Sara Payne, the Victims' Champion, and Sir George Alberti, who is leading a DH taskforce on the Health Aspects of Violence Against Women and Girls.
	As the review is still under way, final costs are yet to be established.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Education: International Cooperation

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many teachers and teaching assistants from each local authority have participated in the Teachers' International Professional Development Programme in each year since 2000;
	(2)  how much funding in respect of the Teachers' International Professional Development Programme has been allocated to each local authority in each year since 2000.

Vernon Coaker: There are three strands to the Teachers International Professional Development (TIPD) programme: local authority led study visits on a theme decided by the relevant local authority with 2000 places each year; school determined visits to examine a theme of study decided by the schools engaged, with 500 visits each year; and a programme of study visits to developing countries with 80 places each year.
	The information on the number of teachers and teaching assistants from each local authority who have participated in the Teachers International Professional Development Programme visits for the period 2000-01 to 2006-07 is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Information on the number of teachers taking part in local authority led study visits by local authority; information on the number of teachers taking part in study visits on the developing country strand; and for school determined study visits for 2007-08, 2008-09 and the anticipated out-turn for 2009-10 has been placed in the House Libraries.
	Funding for the Teachers International Professional Development (TIPD) programme is not distributed to local authorities. Funding passes to the four programme delivery organisations, each of which is contracted to deliver a specified number of places. Each provider receives an indication of how many places on the programme each local authority might expect, with places not taken up by local authorities re-allocated to authorities where demand outstrips their allocation.

Educational Institutions: Tower Hamlets

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many colleges in the London borough of Tower Hamlets had an application for accreditation refused in the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many colleges in the London borough of Tower Hamlets lost their accreditation in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 February 2010
	I have been asked to reply.
	The UK Border Agency does not hold figures on the number of colleges applying for accreditation from one of its approved accrediting bodies for the purposes of educational quality. However, a total of eight colleges in the London borough of Tower Hamlets had an application for a Tier 4 Sponsor Licence refused in the last 12 months.

Faith Schools: Equality

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide that the exceptions to the equality duty contemplated in clause 29 of and schedule 3, part 2 of the Equality Bill be extended to faith schools in the public sector; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: In relation to their pupils, faith schools are not covered by clause 29 of the Equality Bill as a result of clause 28(2). They are instead covered by Part 6 of the Bill and the exceptions they need to operate are provided in that Part and in Schedule 11. In relation to other services and public functions provided by faith schools, the exceptions contained in Clause 29 will apply to all public bodies, including maintained faith schools. The exceptions in Part 2 of Schedule 3 apply mainly to local authorities in relation to their education functions. Where they need to apply more widely, including to maintained faith schools, they do. An example of this is paragraph 11 of the Schedule. There is no need for additional legislation.

Parenting Orders

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many parenting orders were issued because of  (a) poor behaviour in school and  (b) truancy in (i) 1997, (ii) 2005 and (iii) the latest year for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: We have been collecting data on parenting orders since 2004.
	The number of parenting orders made following truancy prosecution (ancillary orders) is 427 for 2004/05, 505 in 2005/06, 602 in 2007/08 and 396 for 2008/09.
	All 150 local authorities have systems in place to use orders for behaviour in appropriate cases, but no orders have yet been issued. Parenting orders for behaviour are a last resort measure, intended only for parents that will not engage with voluntary measures, and were never expected to be used in great volume. The number of parenting contracts for behaviour accepted by parents is 410 for 2004/05, 1898 for 2005/06, 2535 for 2006/07, 2546 for 2007/08 and 3528 for 2008/09.

Personal Social and Health Education

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what training will be given to teachers of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum to respond appropriately to a child or young person, who, during such teaching, discloses abuse.

Vernon Coaker: All school staff who work with children should undertake training to equip them to carry out their responsibilities for child protection effectively, that is kept up to date by refresher training at three yearly intervals. In addition to this, all staff in schools should follow the guidance contained in What to do if you're worried a child is being abused. This practice guidance tells people about the procedures to follow when passing on concerns and what will then happen.

Schools: Fires

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent steps he has taken to improve fire safety in schools.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 26 February 2010
	 DCSF has comprehensive guidance on fire safety in schools on its fire safety portal at:
	www.teachernet.gov.uk/fire
	In March 2007 the then Schools Minister, Jim Knight MP, announced the Government's new policy on sprinklers and their value as a measure against arson. He said:
	It is now our expectation that all new schools will have fire sprinklers installed. However, we do not intend to make this a compulsory measure. There may be a few cases where local authorities or other promoters of schools consider that sprinklers are not needed. If so, they will need to be able to demonstrate that such schools are low risk and that sprinklers would not represent good value for money.

Teachers: Training

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many  (a) applications were received for and  (b) places were awarded on (i) graduate teacher programmes, (ii) Bachelor of Education programmes, (iii) Postgraduate Certificate of Education programmes and (iv) Teach First programmes in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 2 February 2010
	 The table shows the number of applications and acceptances to mainstream postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England for entry in 2009-10.
	
		
			  Postgraduate applications and acceptances to ITT courses; year of entry: 2009-10 ( p rovisional), Coverage: England 
			   Number of applications  Number of acceptances 
			 Primary 20,440 8,660 
			 Middle 500 330 
			 Secondary 31,740 15,180 
			 Total 52,670 24,170 
			  Notes:  Figures presented in this table have been published in the GTTR website at: http://www.gttr.ac.uk/providers/statistics/applicantstatistics/ Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown. Some applications to postgraduate ITT courses are made independently of the GTTR and are not included in the figures.  Source:  Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) 
		
	
	The Annual Training and Development Agency for Schools Report states that there were 2,900 applications for Cohort 7 of the Teach First Programme (to start the scheme in 2009-10). Of these, 485 places were awarded.
	Data on applications for mainstream undergraduate ITT (such as Bachelor of Education) and the Graduate Teacher Programme are not available centrally.
	The number of recruits to ITT courses by the various routes and programmes has been published in Tables A1 and A2 of the Statistical First Release: School Workforce in England (23/2009) at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000874/index.shtml
	These tables show that in 2009-10 there were 7,920 new entrants undergraduate ITT courses and 25,090 entrants to postgraduate ITT courses. The latest available full year data for employment based routes to ITT refer to 2008-09 and show there were 5,120 new entrants to the Graduate Teacher Programme and 370 entrants to the Teach First Programme.

Truancy

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and in what percentage of cases of parents charged with offences related to failing to ensure their child attended school have ended in a conviction since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 24 February 2010
	Information from the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to failing to attend school in England, 2001 to 2008 can be viewed in the following table. Prior to 2001 these offences cannot be separately identified.
	These data are a further breakdown of those published in the Criminal Statistics, Supplementary Volumes for England and Wales for the years 2001 to 2008.
	
		
			  N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts and average fine imposed for offences relating to 'failing to attend school'( 1, 2) 
			   Year 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Proceeded against 1,961 3,163 3,849 4,442 4,648 5,999 7,745 9,506 
			 Found guilty 1,595 2,572 3,065 3,549 3,740 4,720 6,035 7,291 
			 Percentage 81.3 81.3 79.6 79.9 80.5 78.7 77.9 76.7 
			 (1) Includes the following; (i) Failure to secure regular attendance at school. (Education Act 1996 S.444 (1)(8)). (ii) Parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. (Education Act 1996 S.444(8)(1a)(8a) added by Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.72). (2) Prior to 2001 these offences cannot be separately identified.  Notes: 1. The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice. [Ref: IOS 85-10] 
		
	
	The increase in the number of cases over this period reflects a sustained drive, led by the Government, to improve levels of school attendance including by encouraging local authorities to make more use of their powers to proceed against parents who are failing in their legal responsibility to ensure their children receive a full time education. The outcome has been a significant improvement in school attendance, with on average 70,000 more pupils in school each day than would be the case if absence rates were still at the level of 1996/97.

Truancy

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2010,  Official Report, columns 1091-92W, on pupils: absenteeism, if he will provide the equivalent figures for secondary schools in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2007-08; and if he will provide the equivalent figures for all schools in 2006-07.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 24 February 2010
	The requested information is shown in the tables for 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. For information on Persistent Absentees that are white British split by gender in 2006-07, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 February 2010,  Official Report, column 548W.
	
		
			  Secondary schools( 1) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 2)  by free school meal eligibility ,  in England 
			   All pupils( 3) 
			   Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4)  Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4)  All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 4) 
			 2005/06 71,130 16.0 142,180 5.5 217,390 7.1 
			 2007/08 54,230 12.9 110,000 4.4 167,610 5.6 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies.  (2) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate.  (3) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once.  (4) The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Source:  School Census. 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 4)  by free school meal eligibility, 2006/07, in England 
			   Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 6)  Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 6)  All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 6) 
			 All pupils(5) 95,760 9.3 172,010 3.2 272,950 4.1 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies).  (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools.  (4) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate.  (5) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year up until 25 May 2007. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once.  (6) The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics.   Source:  School Census. 
		
	
	
		
			  Secondary schools( 1) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 2)  by free school meal eligibility, in England 
			   White British( 3) 
			   Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4)  Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4)  All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees  Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 4) 
			  Boys   
			 2005/06 28,200 18.9 58,630 5.4 86,830 7.0 
			 2007/08 21,060 15.5 43,490 4.2 64,540 5.5 
			
			  Girls   
			 2005/06 28,970 19.6 62,600 5.9 91,570 7.6 
			 2007/08 22,420 16.5 48,720 4.8 71,130 6.2 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies.  (2) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate.  (3) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once.  (4 )The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics.   Note:  Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Source:  School Census.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Planning: Public Consultation

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanism are in place to enable the views of local residents to be taken into account in the consideration of major planning decisions affecting their areas; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: Requirements to publicise planning applications are set out in Article 8 of the General Development Procedure Order. For major developments, this will normally include a site notice or neighbour notification letters, and publication f a notice in a local newspaper.
	All representations submitted by local residents within the set consultation period must be taken into account by the local planning authority in determining the application.

Local Government Representation

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations he has received on variations in the ratio between the number of people represented and councillors in different local authorities.

Shahid Malik: We have recently received representations on these matters in relation to certain unitary proposals we were considering and on the wards of a parish council in Bradford.

West Midlands Fire Service

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with the West Midlands fire service on emergency response times.

Shahid Malik: The Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with West Midlands fire and rescue service on emergency response times.

Working Neighbourhoods Fund

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of the working neighbourhoods fund which has been allocated to local authorities.

John Denham: Since 2008, we have allocated over £1.5 billion of working neighbourhoods fund to help local authorities with high rates of worklessness support their communities. All of the fund is allocated to local authorities.

Regional Spatial Strategies

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to end regional spatial strategies.

Ian Austin: We have no plans to do so. The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act received Royal Assent in November 2009 and will commence on 1 April. Under the Act Regional Spatial Strategies will become part of the new single Regional Strategies.

Affordable Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Social HomeBuy sales have been completed in each  (a) local authority area and  (b) region in each year since 2005; and how many have been completed in 2009-10 to date.

Ian Austin: Table 1 shows the number of Social HomeBuy sales in each local authority area between April 2006 when the scheme started and March 2009.
	Table 2 shows the number of Social HomeBuy sales in each Government Office region between April 2006 and March 2009.
	During the six months 1 April 2009 to 30 September 2009, there were 59 completed Social HomeBuy sales by Registered Social Landlords. Figures for sales during this period by local authorities are not yet available.
	Social HomeBuy is a voluntary and demand-led scheme in which only some social landlords chose to participate. It is one of several options available to help social tenants into home ownership. Purchasers can buy shares of between 25 and 100 per cent.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Social HomeBuy sales 
			  Local authority area  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  Total 
			 Adur - 1 - 1 
			 Allerdale - 1 3 4 
			 Ashford - - 1 1 
			 Barking and Dagenham - 0 1 1 
			 Barnet - - 1 1 
			 Basingstoke and Deane - 3 - 3 
			 Bexley - 2 2 4 
			 Birmingham - 2 6 8 
			 Bradford 3 2 1 6 
			 Brent - 5 1 6 
			 Brighton and Hove 1 0 - 1 
			 Bromley - 5 2 7 
			 Burnley - - 1 1 
			 Camden - - 1 1 
			 Cheltenham - 1 - 1 
			 Chorley 3 1 - 4 
			 Copeland - 1 6 7 
			 Coventry 0 2 1 3 
			 Crawley - 7 - 7 
			 Croydon(1) 6 3 8 17 
			 Dudley - - 1 1 
			 Durham - 1 - 1 
			 Ealing - 3 - 3 
			 Eastbourne - 2 - 2 
			 Eastleigh - 1 - 1 
			 Enfield - 2 - 2 
			 Greenwich - 5 - 5 
			 Hackney 2 12 1 15 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 10 4 1 15 
			 Haringey - - 1 1 
			 Hart - 2 - 2 
			 Hertsmere - 1 1 2 
			 Hillingdon 2 0 - 2 
			 Hounslow - 5 - 5 
			 Islington - - 2 2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3 7 2 12 
			 Kingston upon Hull 6 0 - 6 
			 Knowsley - - 1 1 
			 Lambeth - - 1 1 
			 Leeds 2 2 - 4 
			 Leicester - 1 - 1 
			 Lewisham - 1 - 1 
			 Liverpool - 1 - 1 
			 Luton - - 1 1 
			 Manchester 1 15 - 16 
			 Merton - - 1 1 
			 Middlesbrough 1 3 - 4 
			 Milton Keynes - 1 - 1 
			 Newham - 2 9 11 
			 North Hertfordshire - 1 - 1 
			 Oldham - 1 7 8 
			 Pendle - 1 - 1 
			 Plymouth - 1 - 1 
			 Redcar and Cleveland - 1 - 1 
			 Richmond upon Thames - 1 - 1 
			 Rochdale - - 1 1 
			 Sefton - 13 - 13 
			 Sevenoaks - - 1 1 
			 Sheffield - 1  1 
			 South Tyneside 1 2 1 4 
			 Southampton - - 2 2 
			 Southend-on-Sea - 1 - 1 
			 Southwark(2) - 21 4 25 
			 Sunderland - - 6 6 
			 Tameside - - 1 1 
			 Test Valley - 1 - 1 
			 The Wrekin - 2 3 5 
			 Tower Hamlets - - 2 2 
			 Tunbridge Wells - - 4 4 
			 Waltham Forest 1 0 4 5 
			 Wellingborough 3 1 - 4 
			 Welwyn Hatfield - 1 - 1 
			 West Berkshire - 1 2 3 
			 Westminster - 1 - 1 
			 Wirral - - 3 3 
			 Woking 1 1 - 2 
			 Wychavon - - 1 1 
			 York 1 1 - 2 
			 Grand Total 47 160 99 306 
			 (1) Croydon figure in 2008-09 includes four sales by the local authority. (2) Southwark figures include five sales by the local authority, three in 2007-08 and two in 2008-09. Source: Homes and Communities Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Region  Number of Social HomeBuy sales 
			 North East 16 
			 North West 61 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 19 
			 West Midlands 18 
			 East Midlands 5 
			 East 6 
			 South East 32 
			 Greater London 147 
			 South West 2 
			 Total 306 
			  Source: Homes and Communities Agency

Antisocial Behaviour

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in which constituencies the leaflet Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour, ISBN: 978-1-4098-2156-4, was delivered in the month of February 2010.

Barbara Follett: The leaflet was delivered to a number of local authority areas that have made tackling antisocial behaviour a priority within their Local Area Agreement and/or which are facing particular ASB challenges within their area. A table of the local authority areas that received the leaflet and the corresponding constituencies has been place in the Library of the House.

Departmental Consultants

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on external consultants and advisers by  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which his Department is responsible in each year since 2005.

Barbara Follett: For the last three years the Department has published in its annual report details of expenditure on consultancy by the Department itself, its executive agencies, the Planning Inspectorate, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and Fire Service College as well as Ordnance Survey and Government offices. Details of expenditure from other non-departmental bodies are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Figures for earlier years could be supplied at only disproportionate cost.
	For 2006-07 spend (contained in chapter 10, table 4-page 115)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/2007-annual-report.pdf
	For 2007-08 spend (contained in chapter 10, table 5-page 141)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/05.pdf
	For 2008-09 spend (contained in chapter 10, table 13-page 165)
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1281142.pdf

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of a print-out of the section of his Department's staff handbook relating to disciplinary proceedings.

Barbara Follett: A copy of the pages of the Department's staff handbook relating to disciplinary proceedings will be placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) disciplinary and  (b) capability procedures have been (i) initiated and (ii) completed in his Department in each of the last five years; how much time on average was taken to complete each type of procedure in each such year; how many and what proportion of his Department's staff were subject to each type of procedure in each such year; and how many and what proportion of each type of procedure resulted in the dismissal of the member of staff.

Barbara Follett: In each of the three years following the creation of the Department for Communities and Local Government, 2006, 2007 and 2008, there were less than five disciplinary or capability procedures. As a consequence, further details cannot be provided without compromising individual confidentiality.
	In 2009, nine disciplinary procedures were initiated against CLG staff, six of which were completed. These nine cases represented less than 1 per cent. of the Department's total population and each case took, on average, 2.8 months to process. The number of dismissals resulting from the disciplinary procedures is less than five and as a consequence, further details cannot be provided without compromising individual confidentiality.
	In 2009, seven staff were the subject of formal capability procedures of which less than five were taken to a formal conclusion. As a consequence, further details cannot be provided without compromising individual confidentiality. These seven cases represented less than 1 per cent. of the Department's total population and each case took, on average, 1.6 months to process. No dismissals resulted from any of these cases.
	In 2010, there have been less than five procedures initiated in relation to capability and discipline and as a consequence, further details cannot be provided without compromising individual confidentiality.

Empty Property

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty  (a) commercial and  (b) residential properties there were in (i) St. Albans constituency, (ii) Hertfordshire and (iii) England in each of the last five years.

Barbara Follett: The number of empty residential properties in the St. Albans local authority area, in Hertfordshire and in England in 2005 to 2009 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   St. Albans  Hertfordshire  England 
			 2005 1,313 10,509 723,509 
			 2006 1,471 10,620 744,931 
			 2007 1,446 10,494 763,319 
			 2008 1,348 10,391 783,119 
			 2009 1,317 10,706 770,661 
		
	
	The empty residential dwelling data include both short-term and long-term empty dwellings as reported annually by all billing authorities in England in October of the year. Data are not available at a constituency level.
	Estimates of the number of empty non-domestic hereditaments in the St. Albans local authority area and in England as at 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2009, the only years for which data are available, are shown in the following table. Data for Hertfordshire are not available.
	
		
			   31 March 2008  31 March 2009 
			 St. Albans 389 293 
			 Hertfordshire n/a n/a 
			 England 237,000 237,000 
			 n/a = Not available 
		
	
	The data are as reported by all billing authorities in England at the date specified. Again, data are not available at a constituency level.

Energy Performance Certificates

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department plans to correct incorrect data lodged on the Energy Performance Certificate Register between 18 September 2008 and June 2009.

Ian Austin: Action is taken to correct any Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data that is identified as incorrect either as a result of ongoing quality assurance procedures or as a result of a customer complaint.

Energy Performance Certificates

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which division of his Department is responsible for the  (a) development and  (b) distribution of software for (i) calculating energy efficiency ratings and (ii) lodging energy performance certificates.

Ian Austin: Home Buying, Selling and Energy Performance Division leads on all aspects of Energy Performance Certificate policy. They are responsible for the development and distribution of three software packages used to produce Energy Performance Certificates. These are Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for new build dwellings, Reduced data Standard Assessment Procedure (RdSAP) for existing dwellings and Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) for non-dwellings.

Energy Performance Certificates

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the software used to calculate standard assessment procedure ratings for energy performance certificates between September 2008 and June 2009; and whether certificates lodged between those dates are valid.

Ian Austin: Only software that has been validated and approved by the Department can be used to produce Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs). The standard software produced by the Department is continually monitored and upgraded on a regular basis. Any EPC produced by an accredited energy assessor using approved software is considered to be valid.

Fire Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations he has received on response times of fire and rescue services.

Shahid Malik: The Secretary of State has received no recent representations on the response times of fire and rescue services. However, it is the case that our jurisdiction is limited to England.

Homes and Communities Agency: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 959W, on the Homes and Communities Agency: finance, 
	(1)  what steps the agency  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to save £30 million from the Community Infrastructure Fund; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects the agency to  (a) identify and  (b) announce the programmes from which the remaining £25 million of efficiencies will be made;
	(3)  for what purpose the £26 million in recycled receipts from the Derelict Land Grant programme had originally been intended; and if he will make a statement.;
	(4)  what steps the agency  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to save £2 million from the Property and Regeneration programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what steps the agency  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to find £50 million from making efficiencies within the national affordable housing programme; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: As part of the funding for the Housing Pledge, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) was asked to find £183 million across 2009-10 and 2010-11 through efficient and flexible management of its housing and regeneration programmes.
	For the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) the HCA has sought greater efficiencies within project timescales by local authorities and looked to encourage alternative funding sources either locally or by substitution of funding from other related sources.
	In respect of the Land and Property programme and Derelict Land Grant, the additional receipts returned to the HCA were allowed to be retained by the Agency to fund the Housing Pledge. Given the uncertain timing of all Derelict Land Grant receipts, the £26 million had not been ear marked for any specific programme prior to being allocated to the Housing Pledge.
	Efficiencies are being achieved through the NAHP through the competitive bidding process and value for money assessment of the various schemes.
	All this has enabled HCA to find £158 million of efficiencies over 2009-10 and 2010-11, the remaining £25 million will be identified by the HCA through the current business planning process where the targets and profiles of programmes are being closely examined and tested.

Homes and Communities Agency: Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, columns 958-9W, on the Homes and Communities Agency, what the average salary of a head of function was in 2009-10.

John Healey: The average salary for a head of function in 2009-10 was £89,500.

Housing Revenue Accounts

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to allow with immediate effect local authorities to spend all their right-to-buy receipts ring-fenced on housing revenue account housing.

Ian Austin: The proposal to allow local authorities to retain capital receipts from the sale of housing assets, including under Right to Buy arrangements, was included in the Government's consultation paper Reform of council housing finance issued in July 2009. This is directly linked to the main proposal made in that paper to move towards a new self-financing arrangement for councils which own social housing. I expect to make a further announcement to provide more detail on the self financing package of proposals in the next few weeks.
	We have already announced that newly built or acquired council homes can be excluded from the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy system through an agreement with the Secretary of State, which would allow the local authority to keep the full receipt should those homes subsequently be sold.

Housing: Empty Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many homes were vacant for a period of more than six months in each local authority area in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many homes were vacant in each local authority area in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: I have today placed in the Library of the House a table giving details of the number of long-term vacant homes (i.e. vacant for more than six months) and total vacant homes in each local authority area in England in each of the last three years.
	These data are as reported on the Calculation of Council Tax Base for Formula Grant Purposes (CTB) forms completed by all the billing authorities in England as at a specified date in October each year.

Lighthouse Project: Finance

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding  (a) his Department,  (b) the Government Office for the West Midlands and  (c) each of his Department's agencies has given to the Lighthouse project in each year to date.

Barbara Follett: The Government Office for the West Midlands has not directly allocated any funding to this project.

Local Government: Apprentices

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the number of apprentices each local authority employed in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Barbara Follett: The National Apprenticeships Service is responsible for monitoring the number of apprentices within the public and private sector, including local authorities. Details can be found on their website
	http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/About-Us/Performance-data.aspx
	Authorities recently volunteered information on the overall number of apprenticeships across the sector this year to the Department, and aggregate information was included in a press notice issued by Communities and Local Government on 2 February this year.

Multiple Occupation: Greater London

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate his Department has made of  (a) the proportion of affordable housing in London provided in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and  (b) the number of people living in HMOs in London.

John Healey: This information is not held centrally.

Property Development: Floods

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new dwellings have been built in areas at risk of flooding in each  (a) region and  (b) local authority area in each year since 1997.

Ian Austin: Annual information of the percentage of new dwellings built in areas of high flood risk by Government office region since 1989 is published in Land Use Change Statistics Live Table 251. The table can be found at
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planningbuilding/planningstatistics/livetables/landusechange/
	Statistics on proportion of new dwellings built in flood risk areas by local authority area are not currently published and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which tenancy deposit schemes charge for services related to adjudicating on disputes relating to the deposit.

Ian Austin: None of the three Government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme providers are permitted, under the terms of their contracts, to make direct charges for their alternative dispute resolution services.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the financial viability of each of the authorised tenancy deposit schemes; and whether his Department has responsibility to ensure the financial viability of such schemes.

Ian Austin: The three tenancy deposit protection schemes are operated by private companies under contract with Communities and Local Government and are designed to be self-financing. All the contracts contain safeguards to ensure the financial viability of the schemes.

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when each tenancy deposit scheme provider's contract expires.

Ian Austin: The Department for Communities and Local Government's contracts with the three tenancy deposit protection scheme providers for the provision of tenancy deposit protection schemes will run until the end of March 2012. All three contracts have the option of a further one year extension.

Valuation Office

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 15 May 2006,  Official Report, column 766W, on the Valuation Office Agency, whether any changes have been made since May 2006 to the Valuation Office Agency's  (a) powers and  (b) policy on revaluing, re-assessing or re-classifying a domestic hereditament or composite hereditament after (i) a material change to a property and (ii) a council tax appeal.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	There have been no changes to the  (a) powers granted to listing officers of the Valuation Office Agency since May 2006. In two limited respects  (b) the approach to the banding or identification of a domestic hereditament, or a composite hereditament, has changed.
	 (i) After a material change
	In finding that changes to the cartilage of a property created a new hereditament, the Lands Tribunal case of Baker(VO) v. Tower Hamlets in 2007 clarified the law relating to the identification of hereditaments. Any material change to the curtilage of a dwelling, such as reduction or increase of plot size, will create a new or different dwelling, which must be entered with an appropriate band in a council tax valuation list.
	 (ii) After a council tax proposal
	Where it has become apparent that an agreement has created a valuation list entry that is inaccurate, VOA advice has been clarified to make it clear that the listing officer is empowered to correct it.
	Both these changes are reflected in Council Tax Manual Practice Notes, which are published on the Valuation Office Agency's website.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many retailers in each local authority area in the South East were convicted for selling alcohol to minors in the last 12 months.

Alan Campbell: The number of persons found guilty at all courts and the number of penalty notices for disorder (PND) given for the sale of alcohol to a person under 18 years, broken down by police force area (PFA) in England and Wales 2008 can be viewed in the following table. The PFAs in the South East are Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Thames Valley.
	Court proceedings data for 2009 is due to be published in the autumn 2010.
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder (PNDS) issued, defendants found guilty at all courts for selling alcohol to a person aged under 18( 1) , England and Wales 2008( 2) 
			  Police force area  Convictions( 3)  Penalty notice for disorder 
			 Avon and Somerset 6 61 
			 Bedfordshire - 24 
			 Cambridgeshire 8 12 
			 Cheshire 7 24 
			 Cleveland 8 60 
			 Cumbria 3 26 
			 Derbyshire 16 186 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 58 
			 Dorset 3 46 
			 Durham 6 22 
			 Dyfed Powys 2 35 
			 Essex 7 56 
			 Gloucestershire 29 33 
			 Greater Manchester 6 135 
			 Gwent 2 33 
			 Hampshire - 132 
			 Hertfordshire 6 29 
			 Humberside 27 69 
			 Kent 9 35 
			 Lancashire 6 170 
			 Leicestershire 17 101 
			 Lincolnshire 65 56 
			 Merseyside 1 121 
			 Metropolitan 5 260 
			 Norfolk 10 13 
			 North Wales 1 43 
			 North Yorkshire 4 3 
			 Northamptonshire 4 24 
			 Northumbria 16 35 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 49 
			 South Wales 6 64 
			 South Yorkshire 5 214 
			 Staffordshire 1 38 
			 Suffolk - 26 
			 Surrey 3 45 
			 Sussex 32 97 
			 Thames Valley 7 117 
			 Warwickshire 1 10 
			 West Mercia 3 45 
			 West Midlands 7 77 
			 West Yorkshire 8 122 
			 Wiltshire 17 18 
			 England and Wales 366 2,824 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Excludes convictions data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were  (a) issued and  (b) breached in the Chelmsford local authority area in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 4 March 2010
	 The latest available data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued and breached covers the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2007. Data on the number of ASBOs issued collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice are not available below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level. A further breakdown could be ascertained only by reference to individual court files, which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.
	Data on breaches of ASBOs collected centrally by the Ministry of Justice and held on the Court Proceedings Database only counts those occasions where the breach was proven in court to have occurred. These data are not compiled below CJS area level.
	The available information is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued all courts( 1)  and the number breached( 2)  in the Essex Criminal Justice System (CJS) area, 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007 
			  CJS area  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Essex  
			 Issued 23 79 88 32 28 
			 Breached 2 28 57 39 20 
			 (1) Includes ASBOs issued on application by magistrates courts acting in .their civil capacity and county courts, which became available on 1 April 1999 and ASBOs made following conviction for a relevant criminal offence at the Crown court and at magistrates courts (acting in their criminal capacity), which became available on 2 December 2002. (2) ASBOs may be breached more than once and in more than one year. In this table ASBOs are counted once only within the period when they were first breached. For these reasons breach rates cannot be computed from the figures presented in this table. ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table by area of issue.  Notes: 1. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 2. Previously issued data have been revised.

Antisocial Behaviour: Alcoholic Drinks

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effect of alcohol use on the level of antisocial behaviour.

Alan Campbell: Problems with drunk or rowdy behaviour form one component of the overall measure of antisocial behaviour that is routinely included in the British Crime Survey. The latest figures, for the 12 months ending September 2009, shows that there has been a reduction in the proportion of people with a high level of perceived antisocial behaviour in their local area (down from 17 per cent. to 15 per cent. year on year) and a reduction from 26 per cent. to 25 per cent. of those who perceive problems with drunk and rowdy behaviour.
	The update can be found at the following link:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb0210.pdf

Asylum

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to increase the rate of removal of failed asylum seekers since May 2005.

Phil Woolas: The Government's measures include memoranda of understanding and readmission agreements with overseas governments to increase returns and re-documentation rates; regular charter services to countries where it would otherwise be difficult to return significant numbers because of lack of capacity on scheduled services; joint charters with other EU member states; Assisted Voluntary Return schemes offering enhanced packages to encourage voluntary return; close liaison with the judiciary to allow for the expeditious processing of legal challenges and changes to the judicial review policy to counter vexatious applications for judicial review; and expansion of the UK Border Agency detention estate.
	In addition, we have made it increasingly difficult for people to live and work here who have no right to do so through toughening the illegal working legislation. Employers now face large fines if they hire illegal migrant workers including failed asylum seekers. Also, local immigration teams, backed by Immigration Crime Partnerships with the police, are in the process of being established across the country to track down, detain and remove all immigration offenders.

Asylum: Newcastle upon Tyne

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether drinkable water is available on each floor of the Angel Heights asylum seeker hostel in Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne; and what payments his Department has made to the Angel Group in respect of this hostel since 2006.

Phil Woolas: Drinkable water is available from all four floors of the building. The UK Border Agency has made payments of £1,030,919.68 to the Angel Group for accommodating eligible asylum seekers in Angel Heights since 2006.

Binyam Mohamed

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he provided an authorisation under section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 in relation to the interrogation of Binyam Mohamed.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 8 March 2010
	The Government do not comment on intelligence matters.

Communications Capabilities Directorate

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed  (a) within the Communications Capabilities Directorate and  (b) on projects associated with the Communications Capabilities Directorate.

David Hanson: holding answer 24 February 2010
	147 staff currently work within the Directorate. This number will be reduced significantly during 2010. The Directorate has links with other areas of the Home Office but no other Home Office staff work full-time on projects associated with Directorate's work.

Deportation

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many removal notices for unsuccessful asylum seekers have been issued in each year since 1997.

Phil Woolas: The number of IS151As, which is a notice to a person liable to removal, issued to failed asylum seekers (FAS) by the UK Border Agency in each year since 2003 is shown in the following table. Data for previous years were not recorded centrally and would require the examination of individual records at disproportionate cost to extract.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Number of IS151As issued to FAS 
			 2003 20,611 
			 2004 34,748 
			 2005 26,309 
			 2006 23,855 
			 2007 25,666 
			 2008 26,832 
			 2009 25,618 
		
	
	All figures quoted are internal management information only and are subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.
	The IS151A does not necessarily signify that the UK Border Agency is making immediate efforts to remove that person at that time, as there may be numerous barriers to removal (such as an outstanding asylum claim or appeal right) which must first be considered; should the person subsequently be granted leave then the IS151A is no longer valid. Therefore, the issue of such a form does not correlate with the numbers of people actually removed from the UK. Removal directions are set at the end of the process when any barriers to removal are resolved.

Drugs

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects on society of the use of psychoactive substances by individuals.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has published research which addresses the effect on society of Class A drug use:
	'The economic and social costs of Class A drug use in England and Wales in 2003-04', provides a measure of the total costs to society of Class A drug use. In Measuring different aspects of problem drug use: methodological developments
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/rdsolr1606.pdf
	'Measuring the harm from illegal drugs using the Drug Harm Index 2006', provides an overarching measure of the harm caused by illegal drugs including drug-related crime, community perceptions of drug use and drug dealing and the various health consequences that arise from drug misuse.
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/horr13.pdf
	In addition, assessment of a drug's societal harms is made on a case by case basis informed by advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in respect of those drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 or which have been considered for control. The ACMD's recent reports can be found at:
	http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/acmd/index.html

Drugs: Misuse

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the  (a) level of availability and  (b) price of mephedrone on the internet; and what estimate he has made of the average street price of cocaine in the last 12 months.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 4 March 2010
	Mephedrone is sold in the UK through shops and online from websites under the guise of a research chemical, plant food or bath salts. It can be purchased from the internet at between £10 and £15 per gram.
	The street cocaine market is multi-tiered and a gram of cocaine can be sold for between £20 and £70, with a most common price of £40. What is being sold as cocaine by local dealers typically contains less than 20 per cent. cocaine hydrochloride.

Electronic Government: International Cooperation

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role the Identity Passport Service (IPS) is playing in the EU's STORK programme; and what recent discussions the IPS has had with its EU counterparts on storing fingerprints on microchips.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) is leading the UK contribution to Project STORK as a member of a consortium within the EU who are working together to pilot a cross border solution for the delivery of e-services. The project is part of the European Union Competitiveness and Innovation Framework programme.
	IPS has frequent contact with many of its EU counterparts, both bilaterally and during the course of EU policy and technical meetings, where the use of fingerprints in travel documents is sometimes discussed.

Entry Clearances

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was to process an application for a spousal visa in each of the last six months.

Phil Woolas: The global average processing time for spouse visas in each of the six months from August 2009 to January 2010 was as follows:
	
		
			  Processing times-spouse visas 
			  Month  Working days to resolve 
			 August 2009 28 
			 September 2009 33 
			 October 2009 25 
			 November 2009 18 
			 December 2009 16 
			 January 2010 20 
		
	
	The target is to process 95 per cent. of settlement visas within 60 working days.

Entry Clearances

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) mean and  (b) median time was to process an application for leave to remain in December 2009.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Days 
			   Number 
			 Mean 40 
			 Median 48 
			  Note:  These figures are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information. They are therefore provisional and subject to change. Figures relate to cases which were decided by 3 March 2010.

Entry Clearances

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest-standing application for leave to remain is for which processing is yet to be completed by his Department.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only by examination of individual case files. Long standing applications arise for a variety of reasons.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of private colleges that have closed as a result of a failure to gain Government accreditation as bona fide institutions offering courses for overseas students in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 February 2010
	 Since 31 March 2009, any institution wishing to bring non EEA nationals to the UK to study must undergo a two-stage process of inspection, audit or accreditation, followed by licensing by the UK Border Agency for immigration purposes. This process has reduced the number of institutions able to bring students to the UK from over 4,000 to approximately 2,000.
	There is no estimate of the number of private colleges that have closed as a result of failure to gain accreditation from an accreditation body as distinct from sponsor licensing for UKBA purposes. If a private college does not have accreditation it does not prevent it offering courses to UK or other EEA nationals outside of Tier 4 of the points based system.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of private colleges that have received and subsequently lost accreditation as a bona fide institution offering courses for overseas students  (a) temporarily and  (b) permanently.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 February 2010
	Five private colleges that held a tier 4 sponsor licence at one time have since lost accreditation from their approved body and had their sponsor licence removed. UKBA does not hold any information on whether these institutions have since re-applied to the accrediting body. As at 31 January 2010 UKBA had revoked the licences of 15 educational institutions.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many tier 4 applications are awaiting decision in  (a) India,  (b) Nepal and  (c) Bangladesh.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 8 March 2010
	As of the end of January, the number of Tier 4 student visa applications lodged at our visa application centres in India, Nepal and Bangladesh that were awaiting a decision were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 India 20,432 
			 Nepal 6,783 
			 Bangladesh 3,060

Firearms: Crime

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of crimes involving a gun have been reported to  (a) Essex and  (b) Southend police in each year since 1997; and how many such reports led to a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction.

Alan Campbell: Available information relates to offences recorded by the police in Essex in which firearms were reported to have been used from 1997 to 2008-09 and are given in tables (A) and (B). This information is not collected centrally for Southend.
	Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument or used as a threat against a person.
	Information on prosecutions and convictions is not available centrally as specific circumstances of the offences are not collected beyond definitions provided by the statutes.
	
		
			  Table A: Offences recorded by the police in Essex in which firearms were reported to have been used( 1) , 1997 to 2001-02 
			   Air-weapons  Non air-weapons  Total 
			 1997 211 58 269 
			 1998-99(2) 270 47 317 
			 1999-2000 283 61 344 
			 2000-01 279 77 356 
			 2001-02(3) 448 98 546 
			 (1) By weapon being fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. (2) There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. (3) Figures may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Offences recorded by the police in Essex in which firearms were reported to have been used( 1) , 2002-03 to 2008-09 
			   Air-weapons  Non air-weapons  Total 
			 2002-03(2) 584 148 732 
			 2003-04 608 145 753 
			 2004-05(3) 360 193 553 
			 2005-06 323 280 603 
			 2006-07 308 255 563 
			 2007-08 289 260 549 
			 2008-09 196 176 372 
			 (1) By weapon being fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. (2) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. (3) More explicit guidelines for the classification of weapons introduced on 1 April 2004 may have increased the recording of firearm offences, particularly those committed by imitation weapons.

Identity Cards: Databases

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2009,  Official Report, column 77W, on identity cards: databases, what the prescribed circumstances are under which information may be provided from the National Identity Register under the Identity Cards Act 2006; and to which organisations such information has been provided.

Meg Hillier: The Identity Cards Act 2006, and secondary legislation made there under, sets out who can be provided with information from an individual's entry on the Register and under what circumstances. In particular, the Identity Cards Act 2006 (Provision of Information without Consent) Regulations 2009, and the Identity Cards Act 2006 (Information and Code of Practice on Penalties) Order 2009 prescribe government departments and public authorities respectively who may be provided with information without the consent of the individual.
	So far, information has been provided to the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office so that the UK Border Agency and consular posts abroad can be notified of any identity cards that have been reported lost or stolen.

Identity Cards: Marketing

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on  (a) advertising,  (b) marketing,  (c) branding and  (d) public relations in respect of (i) identity cards and (ii) the National Identity Register.

Meg Hillier: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The IPS has to date spent £1,299,000 on buying advertising space to communicate to the business community nationally and to consumers in Greater Manchester, north west England and London in respect of (i) and (ii). The messages, both online and offline highlighted general issues around the risks of identity theft and fraud and encouraged people to be idsmart by being aware of the risks.
	 (b) The IPS has to date spent £87,700 on developing and printing marketing material such as brochures, leaflets and application guidance notes for consumers in Greater Manchester, north west of England, London and airside workers in respect of (i) and (ii).
	 (c) The IPS has to date spent £11,930 on branding in respect of (i) and (ii).
	 (d) The IPS has to date spent £0 (nothing) on public relations in respect of (i) and (ii).

Illegal Immigrants

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff his Department and its agencies have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2005.

Phil Woolas: In 2005 one appointed member of staff was discovered to be working illegally, although he was in the country legitimately. There have been no more cases since.

Immigration

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his most recent estimate is of the number of older, non-asylum cases considered by the UK Border Agency which have resulted in  (a) removal and  (b) the award of a grant in each of the last five years; and how many such cases remain outstanding.

Phil Woolas: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency Lin Homer, reported in her letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) on 4 February 2010 about the group of older, non-asylum cases where the application has been dealt with, but where there is no formal record that the individual has left the country.
	This review is in the early stages and the UK Border Agency has concluded just over 200 cases. The Agency is currently working those cases that fall into the exceptional circumstances criteria for expedition and is planning to increase resource allocated to this work as the clearance of casework backlogs is completed. The Agency is planning that all of the remaining files will be reviewed and archived by summer 2011. Lin Homer will provide a further progress update on the conclusion of these cases in the next update to HASC.

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what representations he has received on potential changes to the freight data capture powers given to the police by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006;
	(2)  how many times the freight data capture powers contained within the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 have been used by each police force since the Act came into force.

Alan Johnson: The requirement for individuals and companies to supply information on the movement of freight is included in Section 33 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. These powers can only be used once the Secretary of State has made an order subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House. Such an order has not yet been made and thus the powers have not so far been introduced.
	In autumn 2009, in light of the economic climate, the Home Office concluded that it would not be appropriate to introduce such an order at this time, due to the potential and uncertain impact on industry. The Home Office is working with partners and industry representatives to identify ways that the objectives can be achieved while minimising industry impact.
	Since the Act was passed it has become increasingly evident that industry concerns in relations to the costs and other burdens of facilitating this power should be considered fully before secondary legislation was laid before Parliament. Representations have been made from a range of industry representatives and Home Office officials have met a range of these representatives and discussed many of their concerns.
	Representations have dealt broadly with the costs of introducing systems which would be able to provide information to the police; the type of information that would be required; the breadth of the information required in relation to the periods covered, and the detail of the information and the operating models for any systems which may be introduced. Representations have also been made in relation to the inclusion of these powers in the Draft Immigration (Simplification) Bill, which would replace the 2006 Act.
	The incorporation of s.33 in the new bill does not represent any change in policy and we remain committed to consult formally with industry before introducing secondary legislation before Parliament.
	We are confident that the measures in place for countering the threats to the UK in relation to the movements of goods match the current level of threat and remain mindful of the need to balance the need to facilitate trade while ensuring that our capability to counter this threat remains effective.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letters of 3 and 15 February 2010 from the hon. Member for Walsall North.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 4 March 2010
	The chief executive of the UK Border Agency wrote to my hon. Friend on 4 March 2010.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter of 20 January 2010 from the hon. Member for Walsall North to the UK Border Agency concerning a resident in his constituency, references 51397020 and B21167/9.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 4 March 2010
	The deputy director for the North West of the UK Border Agency, Kevin Romano, wrote to my hon. Friend on 4 March 2010.

Police: Vehicles

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department issues guidance to police forces on the provision of vehicular support to police officers investigating suspected gang-related activity.

David Hanson: Neither the Home Office, nor any of its agencies, has issued any such guidance.

Sexual Offences

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people have been  (a) arrested for,  (b) prosecuted for,  (c) convicted for and  (d) acquitted of offences of sexual assault in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many people have been  (a) arrested for,  (b) prosecuted for,  (c) convicted for and  (d) acquitted of offences of rape in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery.
	The offence of arrests on suspicion of sexual assaults and offence of rape is not a notifiable offence and does not form part of this collection.
	Information provided by the Ministry of Justice state the number of people proceeded against, found guilty and proceedings that did not lead to a finding of guilt at all courts for rape and sexual assault, England and Wales 1999 to 2008 (latest available) is given in the table.
	Court proceedings data for 2009 are planned to be published in the autumn 2010.
	
		
			  Persons proceeded against at magistrates courts, found guilty and proceedings that did not lead to a finding of guilt at all courts for rape( 1) , and sexual assault( 2) , England and Wales 1999 to 2008( 3, 4, 5) 
			  Number 
			  Offence  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceedings that did not lead to a finding of guilt6 
			  Rape( 1)
			 1999 1,986 561 1,425 
			 2000 1,865 519 1,346 
			 2001 2,417 494 1,923 
			 2002 2,698 548 2,150 
			 2003 2,550 583 1,967 
			 2004 2,453 644 1,809 
			 2005 2,558 694 1,864 
			 2006 2,335 754 1,581 
			 2007 2,138 777 1,361 
			 2008 2,181 822 1,359 
			 
			  Sexual assault( 2)
			 1999 4,627 2,868 1,759 
			 2000 4,354 2,633 1,721 
			 2001 4,496 2,517 1,979 
			 2002 4,651 2,590 2,061 
			 2003 4,846 2,467 2,379 
			 2004 4,920 2,608 2,312 
			 2005 4,106 2,238 1,868 
			 2006 3,764 2,052 1,712 
			 2007 3,548 2,103 1,445 
			 2008 3,364 2,120 1,244 
			 (1) Includes: Rape of a female and male (excludes attempted rape).  (2) Data include the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions: Sexual assault on a male. Sexual assault on a female.  (3) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.  (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  (5) Excludes convictions data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008.  (6) Where proceedings did not lead to a finding of guilt covers defendants tried and found not guilty as well as proceedings that were discontinued or cases where no evidence was offered, charges were withdrawn or the judge ruled that there was no case to answer.   Source:  Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice.

UK Border Agency: Complaints

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints about asylum applications submitted since March 2007 were made to the UK Border Agency in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency does not hold central information to the level of detail asked for in this question. However, data are available relating to all types of complaints about the service that the Agency provides. In 2008 there were 10,835 such complaints received by the Agency and in 2009 there were 12,038.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Advertising

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has spent to date on each of its current radio advertising campaigns; and what the purpose is of each such campaign.

Jonathan R Shaw: Please find as follows details of DWP's current radio advertising campaigns, showing spend committed so far for financial year 2009-10.
	The figures represent the cost of buying media for each campaign. All media buying is done through the Central Office of Information, who show an average of a 49 per cent. saving over rate-card media costs.
	Each of these campaigns:
	supports a departmental objective or public service agreement;
	has performance measures set;
	is evaluated against those measures; and
	has proven effectiveness against its targets.
	
		
			  Spend financial year 2009-10 
			   £ 
			  Targeting Benefit Thieves  
			 To help reduce the incidence of benefit fraud by stressing the risk of being caught 490,000 
			   
			  Planning and Saving for Later Life  
			 To prepare for changes to the state pension coming into effect in April 740,000 
			   
			  Backing Young Britain  
			 To motivate employers to provide more opportunities for young people (16 to 24) seeking jobs, work experience or skills development 230,000 
			   
			  Find Your Way Back to Work  
			 To help people get back into work; specifically to increase awareness and use of Jobcentre Plus online help and advice and promote effective job-seeking 1,170,000 
			   
			  Pension Credit  
			 To drive take-up of pension credit, in order to help reduce pensioner poverty 60,000

Departmental Illegal Immigrants

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff her Department and its agencies have appointed who were later discovered to be illegal immigrants since 2005.

Jonathan R Shaw: People employed to work in Government Departments and their agencies, either directly or through a contractor, are required to satisfy requirements on identity, nationality and immigration status prior to the offer of employment.
	My Department has no record of having employed an illegal immigrant in the last five years.

Departmental Manpower

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many performance reviews were undertaken in respect of staff of  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a direct result of such a rating; and what percentage of full-time equivalent staff this represented.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department for Work and Pensions performance management framework covers a range of HR procedures including attendance, discipline and performance appraisals. The Department's policy stipulates that performance discussions should take place at least quarterly but we do not hold information centrally on how many actually take place.
	The following table sets out the number of staff dismissed for unsatisfactory performance covering attendance, discipline and work performance. Information on the number of staff with an unsatisfactory year end performance rating is only available from April 2007.
	
		
			   Numbers of staff who have been dismissed for 'unsatisfactory performance' (April 2007 to March 2009)  Numbers of staff with an 'unsatisfactory' year end performance rating (April 2007 to March 2009) 
			 Child Support Agency 160 1 
			 Central Services 91 11 
			 Jobcentre Plus 1353 20 
			 Pensions Disability and Carers Service 192 14 
			 Total Number 1,796 46 
			 Total Percentage 1.6 0.04

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants in her Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure her Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information requested is not retained centrally. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Voluntary Work

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what  (a) schemes and  (b) programmes her Department offers to its staff to enable them to undertake volunteering work; and if she will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: DWP offers the following schemes and programmes to its staff to enable them to undertake volunteer work:
	 (a) Schemes
	Community 5000: Community 5000 is the in work volunteering scheme open to all DWP staff at all levels. It supports individuals and teams to give practical skills and time to voluntary and community organisations that support the needs of DWP's diverse customers.
	It is a free choice for the individual and is usually one day of volunteering activity, treated as a day at work as regards hours of attendance and pay and conditions etc.
	In the two years the scheme has been running over 10,000 days have been given in support of over 300 organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureau, The Salvation Army, Action for Blind People, Age Concern, Crisis and many more.
	Feedback has indicated that attendance on the scheme has encouraged many staff to volunteer in their own time.
	 (b) Programmes
	Paid leave: For public and community activities paid leave is available to staff as a right with an agreed entitlement, i.e:
	
		
			  Annual entitlement 
			  Activity  Maximum number of days 
			 Member local authority 18 
			 Mayor 24 
			 Magistrate 18 
			 School or college governor 4 
			 Jury Service (1)- 
			 (1) As required by the court. 
		
	
	Staff are also allowed paid leave to serve in a voluntary organisation that provides a service to the local community, such as the Lifeboat Service, Mountain Rescue and Special Constabulary.
	 Princes Trust
	The DWP support individuals who wish to participate in the Princes Trust as part of their personal development. They are continually looking at how such programmes and other opportunities e.g. secondments to the voluntary sector etc. can be used as an alternative to traditional learning and development methods.

Employment and Support Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how long on average her Department took to process a claim for employment and support allowance in  (a) Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency,  (b) the Highlands,  (c) Scotland and  (d) England and Wales in each of the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is not available.
	Jobcentre Plus is introducing a target for employment and support allowance clearance times from April 2010 and official statistics which will be used to monitor progress will be published in May.

Evaluation of Access to Work

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether she plans to take forward the recommendations made in her Department's research report no. 621, Evaluation of Access to Work: Ministerial Government Departments.

Jonathan R Shaw: The research report contained a number of recommendations to improve the delivery of support previously financed by Access to Work within ministerial Government Departments. Many of the problems identified, and recommendations suggested, were concerned specifically with the individual provision arrangements within Government Departments and are therefore for the individual departments to implement. These include improving the monitoring and review processes operated, potentially in line with those delivered by Access to Work.
	The report does however identify support that the Department for Work and Pensions can continue to provide to ministerial Government Departments to help them improve their delivery of this process. We are committed to supporting these recommendations and will be working with ministerial Government Departments to communicate best practice and further advice and guidance in order to improve their delivery of this support to their disabled staff.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether there are circumstances in which the award of industrial injury disablement benefit may result in a reduction in income for the recipient as a result of interaction with other benefits.

Jonathan R Shaw: Receipt of industrial injuries disablement benefit should not result in an overall reduction in income.
	However, it is taken into account when assessing entitlement to income-related benefits this is because industrial injuries disablement benefit is compensation paid for loss of faculty as a result of an industrial accident or disease and is not intended to meet specific additional costs arising from the disability.
	For all the income-related benefits-income support; jobseeker's allowance (income based); income-related employment and support allowance; pension credit; housing benefit; and council tax benefit-industrial injuries disablement benefit is taken fully into account when determining entitlement.
	In determining entitlement to incapacity benefit, contribution-based employment and support allowance and contribution-based jobseeker's allowance, industrial injuries disablement benefit is not taken into account; however, any unemployability supplement payable with industrial injuries disablement benefit is taken fully into account.
	Industrial injuries disablement benefit is not taken into account in the award of disability living allowance or attendance allowance.

Redundancy: Public Sector

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the  (a) voluntary and  (b) involuntary redundancy rates in the public sector were in each (i) region and (ii) industrial category in each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	Estimates of the total number of redundancies are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However there is no available disaggregation between voluntary and involuntary redundancies or a regional breakdown.
	The LFS provides information for whether employees work in the public or private sectors. However individuals recently made redundant are instead classified according to the industrial group of their previous job. The industrial group 'public administration, education and health' may act as a very broad approximation of the public sector. Although a large fraction of employees in and redundancies from the this industrial group are likely to be in the public sector, private sector firms also operate within this industry whilst there are also public sector employees in other sectors.
	BIS estimates of redundancies from public administration, education and health and all other industries are provided in the third and fourth columns of Table 1 for the first quarter of each year since 1999, the earliest date available. These figures should only be treated as indicative as the LFS is a self classification survey completed by individuals. Some individuals are unlikely to identify exactly the industry in which they work.
	The second column of Table 1 reports Office for National Statistics published figures for total economy-wide redundancy rates. These do not exactly match the other columns due to missing values in the industrial classification of redundancies.
	
		
			  Table 1: First quarter redundancy rates 1997-2009. Not seasonally adjusted. 
			Industrial breakdown 
			   ONS total first quarter redundancy rates  Public administration, education and health  All other industries 
			 1997 7.0 - - 
			 1998 7.4 - - 
			 1999 8.8 1.50 11.40 
			 2000 7.8 0.97 10.32 
			 2001 6.5 1.39 8.48 
			 2002 8.4 1.24 11.11 
			 2003 7.3 1.35 9.65 
			 2004 5.9 0.89 7.97 
			 2005 5.6 0.99 7.61 
			 2006 5.9 1.20 8.06 
			 2007 6.1 1.44 8.15 
			 2008 4.7 1.37 6.21 
			 2009 11.8 1.36 16.50 
			  Source:  ONS Economic and Labour Market Statistics (column 2) and BIS analysis of Labour Force Survey (columns 3 and 4). The data is not seasonally adjusted although there are seasonal variations in the number of redundancies.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of claimants of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) severe disablement allowance have left the benefit for employment in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 25 February 2010
	The Department does not have the data highlighting the destinations of off-flows from incapacity benefits. One of the primary reasons for this is that not everyone leaving benefits tells the Department their destination. The Department has carried out research into other sources of information on destinations, but the results so far are not sufficiently complete for regular publication.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the primary work limiting condition was for claimants of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) employment and support allowance in the latest period for which information is available;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of claimants of (i) incapacity benefit and (ii) employment and support allowance in each main disease group.

Jonathan R Shaw: h olding answer  26 February
	To qualify for incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work called the personal capability assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not in itself confer entitlement to benefit. This means that the decision for a customer who has claimed incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance would be based on their ability to carry out a range of activities in the personal capability assessment. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. Data by medical conditions is not yet available for employment and support allowance. The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants by published diagnosis group Great Britain and abroad-August 2009 
			   Total  Proportion of all diagnosis 
			 Certain infectious and parasitic diseases 16,500 0.7 
			 Neoplasms 31,130 1.4 
			 Diseases of the blood and blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism 3,760 0.2 
			 Endocrine, nutritional and 32,690 1.4 
			 metabolic diseases   
			 Mental and behavioural Disorders 989,610 43.0 
			 Diseases of the nervous System 153,540 6.7 
			 Diseases of the eye and adnexa 17,870 0.8 
			 Diseases of the ear and mastoid process 9,780 0.4 
			 Diseases of the circulatory system 112,880 4.9 
			 Diseases of the respiratory system 4,700 0.2 
			 Diseases of the digestive system 33,830 1.5 
			 Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous system 13,490 0.6 
			 Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue 392,520 17.1 
			 Diseases of the genitourinary system 15,600 0.7 
			 Pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium 1,460 0.1 
			 Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period 20 0.0 
			 Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities 24,830 1.1 
			 Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 262,380 11.4 
			 Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 110,080 4.8 
			 Factors influencing health status and contact with health services 30,600 1.3 
			  Notes: (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and proportions to one decimal place. (2) Data published at http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp  Source:  Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 84WS, on exportability of disability benefits, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants who lost entitlement to  (a) carer's allowance,  (b) the disability living allowance higher care component and  (c) attendance allowance when they moved to another European Economic Area country or to Switzerland between 8 March 2001 and 18 October 2007; and what estimate she has made of the total monetary value of such payments (i) since 18 October 2007 and (ii) in each of the next three years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided in October 2007 that the disability benefits (disability living allowance care component, attendance allowance and carer's allowance) are sickness benefits and may be paid to people who leave the UK to live elsewhere in the European Economic Area or Switzerland providing certain conditions are met. This includes a requirement that customers making a new claim have been in the UK for 26 weeks out of the past 52 weeks.
	After careful consideration we have decided to take a different approach on cases where people lost entitlement to a disability benefit when they moved to another EEA state or Switzerland before 18 October 2007 (the date of the ECJ judgment) but no earlier than 8 March 2001.
	We accept that these people will have been in the UK for 26 out of the previous 52 weeks when they left the UK. We therefore no longer require that they should satisfy this condition at the date they seek reinstatement, providing they continued to meet the other relevant domestic and EU law eligibility requirements throughout the period their claim was disallowed. Payment will be considered from 18 October 2007.
	We do not have the information in the form requested. We currently hold data on 4,000 to 5,000 people who have moved to another EEA member state since 2002 and lost entitlement to a disability benefit. We estimate that the total monetary value of payments to these cases, from 18 October 2007 to the end of March 2010, could be between £30 million and £40 million. In 2010-11 the cost could be between £12 million and £15 million, reducing to between £10 and £13 million and £8 to £11 million in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively.
	However, the data we hold may not be complete. We will monitor the numbers of people seeking payment of benefits they had earlier lost and will revise our estimates as necessary.

Social Security Benefits: Dundee

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in Dundee East constituency are in receipt of attendance allowance; and how much on average they receive in attendance allowance each week.

Jonathan R Shaw: Attendance allowance provides an important non-contributory, non-income-related and tax free cash contribution towards the extra costs of severely disabled people. The Government are committed to providing real help to disabled people, particularly through the early stages of economic recovery. This is why the Chancellor announced in the December 2009 pre-Budget report that attendance allowance would be increased by 1.5 per cent.-bringing forward help when it is most needed. Without this commitment, the recent negative growth in the retail prices index would have meant that this benefit would not have increased in 2010.
	The information requested is in the table.
	
		
			  Number of cases in payment and average weekly payment of attendance allowance in the Dundee, East constituency in August 2009 
			  Attendance allowance  Number/£ 
			 Number of cases in payment 2,590 
			 Average weekly amount paid (£) 61.11 
			  Notes: 1. Number of cases in payment rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Average weekly amount paid is rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Total number of attendance allowance cases in payment excludes people with entitlement where payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Social Security Benefits: Na h-Eileanan an Iar

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were in receipt of attendance allowance in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average weekly payment was of that allowance in that constituency in that period.

Jonathan R Shaw: Attendance allowance provides an important non-contributory, non-income-related and tax free cash contribution towards the extra costs of severely disabled people. The Government are committed to providing real help to disabled people, particularly through the early stages of economic recovery. This is why the Chancellor announced in the December 2009 pre-Budget report that attendance allowance would be increased by 1.5 per cent.-bringing forward help when it is most needed. Without this commitment, the recent negative growth in the retail prices index would have meant that this benefit would not have increased in 2010.
	The information requested is in the table.
	
		
			  Number of cases in payment and average weekly payment of attendance allowance in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency in August 2009 
			  Attendance allowance  Number/£ 
			 Number of cases in payment 1,150 
			 Average weekly amount paid (£) 60.55 
			  Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest penny.  Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Social Security Benefits: Young People

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals aged under 25 years old commenced a claim for  (a) incapacity benefit,  (b) work-related employment and support allowance and  (c) support group employment in each of the last four quarters for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 25 February 2010
	The available information is provided in the tables. Information on the number of new claims from those under 25 years old for employment and support allowance broken down into work-related employment group and support group is not available. To compile the data and quality assure it could only be done at disproportionate costs.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance on-flows Great Britain and abroad 
			  Quarter  All ages  Under 25 
			 November 2008 112,430 20,630 
			 February 2009 16,800 2,870 
			 May 2009 14,980 2,250 
			 Aug 2009 11,900 1,240 
			  Notes: 1. On-flows in the quarter is the total number of spells on incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance that commenced within the quarter. A person may flow on and then off the benefit more than once during the quarter. Does not include approximately eight per cent of short duration on-flows every quarter. 2. From 6 April 2001 no new claims for severe disablement benefit were accepted. 3. Incapacity benefit generally applies to people of working age although a small number of claimants are over state pension age. 4. Figures rounded to the nearest ten. 5. Some additional disclosure controls have been applied.  Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 
		
	
	
		
			  Employment and support allowance on-flows Great Britain and abroad 
			  Quarter  All ages  Under 25 
			 November 2008 54,150 10,150 
			 February 2009 141,320 24,960 
			 May 2009 160,740 28,310 
			 August 2009 164,910 31,150 
			  Notes: 1. Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008. 2. Data relating to employment and support allowance complies with national statistics standard however this is a new benefit using a new data source which may not have reached a steady state in terms of operational processing and retrospection. 3. Figures rounded to the nearest ten. 4. Some additional disclosure controls have been applied.  Source: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Unemployment Benefits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of  (a) incapacity benefit and  (b) employment and support allowance aged under 25 years old there were in (i) each year since 1997 and (ii) each of the last four quarters for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information requested is in the following tables. These figures reflect the numbers of claimants of incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and employment and support allowance aged under 25 who have claimed an incapacity benefit.
	
		
			  Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claimants under 25 years-August 1997 to August 2009 
			   Claimants under 25 years 
			 August 1997 161,900 
			 August 1998 154,600 
			 August 1999 164,190 
			 August 2000 168,810 
			 August 2001 172,460 
			 August 2002 173,520 
			 August 2003 176,540 
			 August 2004 179,020 
			 August 2005 173,140 
			 August 2006 167,750 
			 August 2007 168,460 
			 August 2008 164,320 
			 November 2008 156,540 
			 February 2009 135,180 
			 May 2009 120,990 
			 August 2009 110,130 
			  Notes: 1. August 1999 onwards data rounded to nearest 10. 2. Data for August 1997 to August 1998 has been derived by applying 5 per cent. proportions to 100 per cent. Longitudinal Study totals and rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Severe disablement allowance replaced by incapacity benefit (youth) provisions from April 2001. 4. Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit for new claims from October 2008. 5. Figures for the final four quarters do not include employment and support allowance  Sources: August 1997-August 1998: DWP Longitudinal Study 5 per cent. data August 1999 onwards: DWP Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data 
		
	
	
		
			  Employment and support claimants under 25 years-November 2008 to August 2009 
			   Claimants under 25 years 
			 November 2008 9,770 
			 February 2009 29,470 
			 May 2009 46,200 
			 August 2009 (provisional) 59,740 
			  Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Employment and support allowance replaced incapacity benefit for new claims from October 2008.  Source: DWP Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Unemployment Benefits

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the quarterly off-flows from employment and support allowance have been since its inception, broken down by reason for termination.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is not available.

Unemployment Benefits: Medical Examinations

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much her Department has paid to healthcare companies for conducting capability assessments in  (a) the UK and  (b) Scotland since 27 October 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: The cost of conducting the medical assessment process associated with employment and support allowance is £51.07 million covering the period from 27 October 2008 up to 22 February 2010. This covers the full costs of the medical assessments including work focused health related assessments, gathering information from customers and health care professionals, necessary investments in information technology and infrastructure and set-up costs.
	The contract is provided on a national basis. A separate cost of providing medical services for Scotland is not available.

Work Capability Assessment

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether employees of ATOS Medical Ltd contracted to carry out work capability assessments are required to have diagnostic experience relating to  (a) illnesses with complex and varied symptoms and  (b) mental health.

Jonathan R Shaw: Atos Healthcare doctors and nurses are specifically trained to provide decision making authorities with independent, accurate and authoritative advice and reports on the effects of disability.
	The DWP chief medical adviser approves health care professionals to carry out assessments. Approval is dependent on strict recruitment criteria, completion of a course of training in disability assessment medicine approved by the chief medical adviser and evidence of satisfactory performance.
	Atos Healthcare doctors must be fully registered with the General Medical Council without current or previous restrictions, conditions or warnings and hold a licence to practice from the date the GMC issues licences. In addition they must have at least three years post full registration (GMC or EEA-European Economic Area equivalent) experience as a minimum. Alternatively for non EU graduates three years post full registration experience in the doctors native country is required. In individual cases, solely at the discretion of the CMA, the requirements that no conditions or warnings be attached to registration and that the doctor must have a minimum of three years post registration experience, may be waived.
	Atos nurses must be fully registered (level 1) registered general nurses without current or previous restrictions or cautions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. In addition they must have at least three years post full registration experience. In individual cases, solely at the discretion of the CMA, the requirements that no cautions be attached to registration and that the nurse must have a minimum of three years post registration experience, may be waived.

JUSTICE

Fraud: Convictions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2010,  Official Report, column 925W, on crime convictions, how many of the convictions in Table 6 placed in the Library, relating to fraud and forgery in Greater London and England and Wales, were of offenders aged  (a) 10 or 11,  (b) from 12 to 14,  (c) from 15 to 17,  (d) from 18 to 20 and  (e) 21 years old and more.

Claire Ward: The available information from 1997 to 2008 (latest available) is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for fraud and forgery by age group in Greater London and England and Wales, from 1997 to 2008( 1, 2) 
			  Greater London( 3) 
			  Number of offenders 
			  Age group  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 10 to 11 - - 1 - - 1 - - - - 5 1 
			 12 to 14 13 10 16 13 7 13 8 13 6 12 25 6 
			 15 to 17 110 115 153 144 211 194 161 130 115 75 94 93 
			 18 to 20 336 367 425 453 452 463 414 399 359 262 272 289 
			 21 and over 2,686 3,007 2,789 2,728 2,417 2,838 3,122 3,233 3,220 3,331 4,297 4,107 
			 Total 3,145 3,499 3,384 3,338 3,087 3,509 3,705 3,775 3,700 3,680 4,693 4,496 
		
	
	
		
			  England and Wales 
			  Number of offenders 
			  Age group  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 4) 
			 10 to 11 - - 6 3 2 6 1 1 4 2 6 3 
			 12 to 14 82 91 86 92 78 98 78 83 70 62 87 47 
			 15 to 17 724 872 988 922 933 842 732 678 614 537 583 469 
			 18 to 20 2,171 2,495 2,866 2,638 2,584 2,331 2,146 1,977 1,785 1,444 1,435 1,409 
			 21 and over 14,030 16,299 16,360 15,573 14,686 14,867 15,064 15,405 15,981 16,145 17,824 17,895 
			 Total 17,007 19,757 20,306 19,228 18,283 18,144 18,021 18,144 18,454 18,190 19,935 19,823 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Includes Metropolitan and City of London police force areas. (4) Excludes convictions for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Illegal Immigrants

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been  (a) convicted of and  (b) received the maximum available prison sentence or fine for (i) entering the UK in breach of a deportation order or without leave, (ii) remaining in the UK after leave to enter or remain had expired, (iii) assaulting an immigration officer and (iv) trafficking people for exploitation in each year since 1998.

Claire Ward: The requested information is provided in the following table. The total number sentenced has been supplied in lieu of the number convicted; the numbers convicted and sentenced in a year may not match due to lags in time between conviction and sentencing.
	
		
			  Total persons given a maximum fine and maximum sentence, 1998 to 2008 
			   1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			  Non-citizen entering UK in breach of a deportation order( 1)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 
			 Total sentenced 4 5 2 1 6 6 3 5 4 7 11 
			 
			  Non citizen entering UK without leave1
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 11 6 6 9 8 2 2 
			 Total sentenced 7 15 14 23 36 32 18 24 38 8 11 
			 
			  Non citizen having only a limited leave remaining in UK beyond the time limit( 1)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 1 1 
			 Total sentenced 0 5 1 4 3 5 13 5 5 3 4 
			 
			  Non citizen failing to observe conditions of leave( 1)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced 5 5 2 8 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 
			 
			  Non citizen who enters UK as a member of a crew of a ship or aircraft and who is required to leave on the ship or aircraft remains in the UK beyond the time allowed( 1)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 
			 Total sentenced 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 4 
			  Non citizen failing to comply with requirements to report to a Medical Officer or to submit to a test or examination required by such an officer( 1)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			  Assaulting a designated immigration officer exercising Section 2 detention powers( 2)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 
			  Assaulting an immigration officer( 2)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum fine (£5,000) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (6 months) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 
			 
			  Trafficking into the UK for sexual exploitation( 3,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 9 6 9 11 
			 
			  Trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation( 3,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 3 9 5 13 
			 
			  Trafficking out of the UK for sexual exploitation( 3,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 
			  Trafficking people into the UK for the purpose of exploitation( 4,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 2 3 0 0 
			  Trafficking people within the UK for the purpose of exploitation( 4,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total convicted n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 2 0 0 
			 
			  Trafficking people out of the UK( 4,5)
			 Persons sentenced to maximum custodial sentence (14 years) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Indeterminate sentences n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total sentenced n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 0 1 8 0 
			 n/a = Not applicable (1) Offences under Immigration Act 1971 (2) Offences under UK Borders Act 2007 (3) Offences under Sexual Offences Act 2003 (4) Offences under Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 (5) These figures have been drawn from the courts proceedings database and as such may differ from any figures supplied by the UK human trafficking centre which are drawn from the Police National Computer  Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 2. These data have been taken from the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings database. These data are presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.

Legal Aid

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reason his Department's review into the Graduated Fees Scheme has not been conducted on the originally proposed timetable.

Claire Ward: In 2005 the Government gave a commitment to review specific aspects of the Advocate's Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS), including payments for 'cracked' trials and guilty pleas. However, this commitment was overtaken by Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement, published in 2006. This led to a wide ranging revision of the existing AGFS framework, implemented in April 2007. In light of these recent changes, the Government do not currently intend to conduct any further review of the structure of the AGFS, although they have recently consulted on changes to the rates payable under the AGFS.

Legal Aid

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were eligible for legal aid as a result of their assets being frozen in each of the last five years.

Claire Ward: When assessing financial eligibility, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not take into account assets frozen under a restraint order. Where someone is subject to restraint procedures a living allowance is usually made available, and this is taken into account in assessing their financial eligibility. The LSC's management information systems do not hold information on the numbers of people subject to restraint proceedings, or on the living allowances each individual has been allowed by the court, so figures for the number of people who are in principle eligible for legal aid as a result of restraint proceedings are not available. Some information may be held on individuals who have actually applied for legal aid, but this is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

National Offender Management Service: Manpower

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many staff were employed in  (a) Prison Service area offices and  (b) regional offender management offices on 1 January 2008;
	(2)  how many persons were employed by each director of offender management within the National Offender Management Service on the most recent date for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many persons were employed in  (a) the Head Office and  (b) each regional office of the National Offender Management Service on 31 December of each year since 2004.

Maria Eagle: Information on the number of staff employed in Regional Offender Management Offices in January 2008 is not available. At that time the staff reported to the Home Office but the records are no longer available and would require a substantial reactivation exercise that would entail disproportionate cost, to obtain.
	The closest available data relates to October 2008, when there were 451 staff in Prison Service area offices and 119 staff in Regional Offender Management offices.
	The number of staff employed within each office is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Staff employed within Director of Offender Management Offices ,  31 December 2009 
			  Region  Staff employed  Staff declared surplus( 1)  Vacancies 
			 East Midlands 53 2 8 
			 East of England 50 1 14 
			 London 32 6 13 
			 North East 40 5 2 
			 North West 81 19 12 
			 South East 98 8 23 
			 South West 31 8 14 
			 Wales 26 0 12 
			 West Midlands 38 6 13 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 35 6 3 
			 Total 483 61 114 
			 (1) Staff declared surplus are also included in the 'Staff employed' column. 
		
	
	The process of change in the NOMS organisations in the nine English regions and Wales in 2009, covered 576 jobs and the new structure, which is now in place, has reduced this number by 180 to 396.
	The information for the national headquarters does not include staff reporting through the NOMS Shared Service Centre or area service teams who are based in prisons but organised on a regional basis.
	
		
			  Regional and  National H eadquarters 31 December 2004 to 2009 
			   Region  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 Area/Regional Office East Midlands 37 54 61 56 62 53 
			  East of England 34 44 47 44 56 50 
			  London 25 28 30 28 37 32 
			  North East 20 28 38 38 41 40 
			  North West 126 182 210 205 80 81 
			  South East 125 143 127 116 121 98 
			  South west 32 36 34 26 25 31 
			  Wales 13 16 19 18 27 26 
			  West Midlands 49 48 54 42 34 38 
			  Yorkshire and Humberside 39 48 55 29 35 35 
			 Area/Regional Office Total  501 627 675 602 518 483 
			 
			 National Headquarters(1)  1906 1351 1398 1297 2207 2188 
			 (1) In 2005 a large number of staff transferred to the original NOMS headquarters, which was part of the core Home Office. The staff transferred back in 2008 when NOMS HQ was formed. These staff are not included in the table for die period when they were part of the core Home Office.

Prison Accommodation: Per Capita Costs

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department takes in to account the state pension costs of retired staff when calculating the cost of a prison place in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: The annual cost per prison place is based on expenditure met by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) during the year. It does not include the pension cost of staff who have already retired, not the cost of the state retirement pension.
	The cost includes the expected cost of pension benefits accrued by staff employed during the year and also the additional cost arising from any staff who leave as part of an early retirement programme during the year.
	Present and past employees of NOMS receive pension benefits covered by the provisions of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) which is unfunded. Liability for payment of future benefits to retired staff is a charge to the PCSPS.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many illicit mobile telephones with or without SIM cards detected in prisons in England and Wales were forwarded to the National Dog Technology Supply Group in the latest period for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the number of such telephones detected and not forwarded.

Maria Eagle: The Government are committed to reducing the number of mobile phones in prisons. We have already strengthened the law through the Offender Management Act 2007, which made it an offence with a penalty of up to two years' imprisonment to bring a mobile phone or component into a prison. We are also taking forward legislation through the Crime and Security Bill to criminalise the possession of devices, including mobile telephones within a prison without authorisation.
	Prisons in England and Wales are instructed to send mobile phones and SIM cards found to a central unit and it is from this unit's records that this answer is based. The following table shows the total number of mobile phones and SIM cards that have been interrogated over the last 12 months.
	The figures contained in the table have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing data, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. These data are not subject to audit.
	The figures understate the actual number of finds, because they do not include items retained by the police for evidential purposes and phones not submitted for other reasons. It is not always appropriate to send phones to the central unit and some phones sent are not interrogated. These have not been included in these figures. NOMS is putting in place new procedures to improve the accuracy of these statistics.
	Tackling mobile phones in prison presents substantial and increasing technological challenges, and .while the numbers of phones found clearly indicates the scale of the challenge, it is also a reflection of prisons' increasing success in finding them and better reporting. The following table shows the number of mobile phones and SIM cards that have been received from each of the prisons over the last 12 months.
	
		
			  Mobile phones and SIM cards submitted to central unit ,  March 2009 to February 2010 
			   Mobile  SIM 
			  2009   
			 March 304 323 
			 Apr 363 357 
			 May 353 377 
			 June 407 396 
			 July 376 425 
			 August 476 393 
			 September 355 345 
			 October 386 373 
			 November 399 337 
			 December 350 325 
			  2010   
			 January 430 423 
			 February 459 479 
			 Total 4658 4553 
			  Note: Each mobile phone and SIM card is counted as a separate item.

Youth Custody: Manpower

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) governors,  (b) officers and  (c) other staff in the youth secure estate are of each ethnic group.

Maria Eagle: Information on the ethnic group of staff in the youth secure estate is contained in the following table. The information refers to staff directly employed by the National Offender Management Service and staff at Ashfield and Parc young offender institutions (YOI), which are operated by private contractors. Where a YOI is not entirely dedicated to holding young people (15 to 17-year-olds) it is not possible to disaggregate the staffing and the entire staffing of the YOI has been included in the answer. Obtaining information on non-employed staff engaged in the young people's estate is not possible without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Ethnicity of staff employed within young people's estate( 1) 
			  Ethnic g roup  Operational managers( 2)  Officers( 3)  Other staff  Total( 4) 
			 Asian 0 44 57 102 
			 Black 4 45 41 98 
			 Mixed 1 35 19 55 
			 Other ethnic group 3 16 10 30 
			 White 121 2,172 1,637 4,356 
			 Not declared 2 181 138 323 
			 Total 131 2,493 1,902 4,964 
			 Percentage black and minority ethnic(5) 6.2 6.1 7.2 6.1 
			 (1) The establishments included in the totals are: Ashfield, Castington, Cookham Wood, Feltham, Hindley, Huntercombe, Parc, Stoke Heath, Warren Hill, Werrington, Wetherby, Eastwood Park, Downview, New Hall, Foston Hall. (2 )Governors are now known as operational managers.  (3) Includes prison officers, senior officers and principal officers and prison custody officers in contracted establishments.  (4 )Information for Ashfield could not be broken down by grade and so is included only in the total column. Hence the columns do not sum to the total.  (5) Percentage recorded as black and minority ethnic of total with known ethnicity.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Colombia: Human Rights

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of his Department's discussions with the Colombian government on the situation of members of the Nukak tribe camped near San Jose; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: We have not had any discussions with the Colombian Government about the Nukak Maku tribe.

Departmental ICT

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information technology projects initiated by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not cancelled any significant information technology projects during the past five years. To provide more detailed information on small individual projects, including from across our network of posts, would incur disproportionate cost.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not maintain centrally details of information technology projects for its agencies. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Public Expenditure

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010,  Official Report, column 214W, on departmental public expenditure, whether he expects there to be a shortfall between the estimated savings to be made by his Department and its agencies in 2010-11 and the estimated loss to his Department's budget for that year arising from exchange rate movements.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 5 March 2010
	 I am confident that on the basis of the measures my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in his written statement to the House of 10 February 2010,  Official Report, column 53WS, including those additional elements of streamlining and cost-saving mentioned there which have yet to be finalised, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will be able to continue to deliver a world-class and comprehensive diplomatic service for the UK within its departmental expenditure limit.

EU Countries: Overseas Workers

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of UK engineering construction workers working under contract in other EU member states in each of the last five years.

Chris Bryant: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Israel: Courts Martial

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the number of Palestinian children being held by the Israeli authorities and facing trial in a military court.

Ivan Lewis: According to Defence for Children International, as of January 2010, there are currently 318 Palestinian children in Israeli detention.
	The UK continues to make its position clear to both the Israelis and the Palestinians on a wide range of human rights issues. This includes not only social and economic rights but also the security and treatment of detainees, including juveniles.

Kazakhstan: Politics and Government

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is taking to monitor the progress of the government of Kazakhstan in implementing the commitments to reform made prior to its Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have raised this issue with the Kazakhstan Foreign Minister in recent weeks. Our embassy in Astana, working closely with EU and other like-minded missions, closely evaluates political developments in Kazakhstan. Our embassy has also supported a project run by Freedom House and the Kazakhstan Coalition of non-governmental organisations to monitor independently Kazakhstan's performance against its Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) commitments, including in respect of elections, political parties, media, local self-governance, and freedoms of assembly and conscience. During the project, the Coalition provided regular briefings to others in the international community to allow wider monitoring. The commitments made by Kazakhstan prior to the Chairmanship were in line with the international standards to which it had already signed up as a partner state of the OSCE. These commitments will continue to be monitored after Kazakhstan's year as Chair comes to an end.

Kazakhstan: Politics and Government

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of the government of Kazakhstan in implementing the commitments to reform it made prior to its Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010.

Chris Bryant: Kazakhstan has taken some limited steps forward, but there have been developments, for example in limiting media freedom, that have caused concern. We have stressed to the Kazakhs the need to live up to the obligations that relate to both its membership and Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 14 January 2010, President Nazarbayev pledged to pursue further political liberalisation. This was underlined by Kazakh Foreign Minister Saudabayev when he told my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in January that Kazakhstan would remain committed to the founding principles of the OSCE. We look forward to that being the case. We will continue to support Kazakhstan's efforts towards meeting their OSCE commitments, and the challenges they face as Chair.

Kazakhstan: Politics and Government

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of the government of Kazakhstan to date on the implementation of its pledge to introduce greater democracy and transparency in respect of  (a) media freedom,  (b) religious freedom,  (c) internet law,  (d) human rights and  (e) legislation; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The Kazakhs have made some progress in the field of human rights, but further improvements are needed, as they themselves have recognised. Recent positive reforms include December 2009 legislation on domestic violence and gender equality and a reduction in the number of crimes carrying the death penalty. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are active and played a key role in developing Kazakhstan's National Human Rights Action Plan last year (the formation of which was supported by the UK). This Action Plan includes a comprehensive set of recommendations across the human rights spectrum, many with specific deadlines. But concerns remain, including in respect of arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to a fair trial and freedoms of expression, assembly and of the media, and in specific cases such as Evgeny Zhovtis and Ramazan Yesergepov. There is also scope for improvements in the legislation on elections, political parties and local government enacted in February 2009.
	February 2009 legislation introduced some improvements with regard to the media situation in Kazakhstan, including abolition of the registration requirement for television and radio outlets. However, libel remains a criminal offence in Kazakhstan and related laws are used against opposition media. In December 2009, a new privacy law was passed, which media NGOs state will place further constraints on investigative journalism.
	We are pleased that a restrictive law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organisations was rejected by Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council last year. We are concerned however that non-traditional religious groups including Jehovah's Witnesses, evangelical Christians and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness have experienced difficulties.
	The internet law, introduced in July 2009, has been strongly criticised both by the EU and by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Representative for Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, as not being in line with international standards or OSCE commitments. We most recently encouraged the Kazakhs to bring this law into line with international standards during a meeting in London with Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister on 29 January 2010.
	Kazakhstan continues to participate in the human rights dialogues established under the EU's Central Asia Strategy, which supports good governance, the rule of law and human rights and to which the UK contributes views. We encouraged Kazakhstan to co-operate closely with the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review earlier this year and will continue to emphasise the importance of a thorough response to the recommendations raised. The UK and our international partners will continue to raise issues of concern with the Kazakh authorities and urge them to press ahead with reforms, many of which they themselves have identified as necessary.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he plans to reply to the letter of 19 January 2010 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on the Parliamentary delegation to Gaza.

David Miliband: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not receive my right hon. Friend's letter until 26 February 2010. We will reply to it as soon as possible.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what meetings he has had with representatives of the biofuels industry on the production of biofuels from used cooking oils since October 2009.

Joan Ruddock: DECC officials have had meetings with the following industry bodies where used cooking oil derived transport biofuels or bioliquids for the generation of heat and power were discussed: Four Rivers BioEnergy Inc.; North East of England Process Industry Cluster; Oil Firing Technical Association; Renewable Energy Association; and UK Sustainable Biofuels Association. Officials also attend the Department for Transport's monthly Renewable Energy Directive Stakeholder Advisory Group meetings with industry representatives where used cooking oil derived fuel is occasionally discussed.

Carbon Sequestration

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to announce the winner of the first carbon capture and storage demonstration scheme competition.

Joan Ruddock: The Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration procurement is continuing in line with our plans. The next stage of the competition is to announce which Bidders will be taken through to the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase. We expect to make an announcement on this shortly.

Departmental Electronic Equipment

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) laptops,  (b) desktop computers,  (c) computer discs,  (d) printers and  (e) memory sticks have been (i) lost by and (ii) stolen from his Department since its creation.

Joan Ruddock: The following items have been reported as lost or stolen from the Department since its creation:
	
		
			  Number 
			   Lost  Stolen 
			 Laptops 1 1 
			 Desktops 0 0 
			 Computer discs 0 0 
			 Printers 0 0 
			 Memory sticks (1)- (1)- 
			 (1) We do not hold this information centrally. 
		
	
	Both laptops had full disc encryption installed to protect DECC information.

Departmental ICT

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information technology projects initiated by his Department were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse.

Joan Ruddock: No information technology projects initiated by DECC have been cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months.

Departmental Languages

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants in his Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided.

Joan Ruddock: We have no central record of any expenditure in the last 12 months on foreign language training.

Departmental Public Relations

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent on news and public relations in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) 2009-10.

Joan Ruddock: The cost of all DECC communications staff in 2008-09 (including press officers) was £512,000, but note that this relates to the period from October 2008, as prior to this costs were divided between BIS and DEFRA (the Departments from which DECC's original teams were drawn), for which disaggregated figures for DECC's predecessor teams are not available. Costs from April 2009 to January 2010 (the latest date available) were £1,530,000.
	Between September 2008 and March 2009 DECC spent approximately £119,000 through public relations agencies on COFs rosters. In 2009-10, DECC plans to spend a total of approximately £90,000 on public relations. These figures include all PR expenditure incurred by the Department on the Act On CO2 campaign, including media relations activity and PR for roadshows.
	For details of campaign advertising media costs in 2008-09 and 2009-10 I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 8 February 2010,  Official Report, column 728W, to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps).

Electricity

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's latest estimate is of the cost of electricity in pence per kWh provided by  (a) coal combustion plants,  (b) pulverised fuel steam plants,  (c) open-cycle gas turbines,  (d) gas combustion plants,  (e) nuclear fission plants,  (f) biomass combustion plants,  (g) offshore wind turbines,  (h) onshore wind turbines and  (i) wave and marine (hydroelectricity) plants; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: Work is ongoing to update the Department of Energy and Climate Change's cost assumptions for different forms of generation.
	The Government have carried out analysis on generation costs in recent years to inform policy decisions. Some of these estimates were published as part of the Energy Review (2006):
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file32014.pdf
	The analysis underpinning Renewable Energy Strategy, published in July 2009, used assumptions on the generating costs of different renewable electricity generation technologies, full details of which are set out in Element (2009) and Redpoint/Trilemma (2009), which are available on the DECC website.
	
		
			  Table 1: Levelised cost estimates for renewable generation plant 
			  Technology  Levelised cost (£/MWh) 
			  Wind generation plant  
			 Onshore wind 74-103 
			 Offshore wind 112-131 
			   
			  Biomass plant  
			 Biomass 114-146 
			   
			  Wave and tidal stream  
			 Wave 240 
			 Tidal stream 191 
		
	
	The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have published estimated levelised costs (£/MWh, in 2008 prices) associated with 1 MWh of electricity generated, for their December 2008 report:
	http://www.theccc.org.uk/pdf/TSO-ClimateChange.pdf
	Their analysis for non-renewable plant is set out in table 2 and include construction, operation and maintenance costs and where applicable the cost of carbon allowances (EU ETS). Moreover, for nuclear, they also include the costs of decommissioning and waste.
	
		
			  Table 2: Levelised cost estimates for non-renewable generation plant 
			  Technology  Levelised cost (£/MWh) 
			  Coal-fired plant  
			 Coal (pulverised fuel)-central fuel 54 
			   
			  Gas-fired plant  
			 CCGT-central fuel 53 
			   
			  Nuclear plant  
			 Nuclear 51 
		
	
	It should be noted that the estimates of levelised costs for different types of electricity generation are highly sensitive to the assumptions used for capital costs, fuel and EU ETS allowance prices, operating costs, load factor, and other drivers. In reality, there are large uncertainties and ranges around these figures.

Electricity Generation

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2009,  Official Report, columns 818-19W, on electricity generation: costs, if he will include in the estimated levelised costs associated with 1MW of electricity generated the level of subsidy provided for each different generating technology.

David Kidney: Onshore wind receives 1 Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) per MWh and offshore wind receives 1.5 ROCs per MWh.
	The predicted nominal value of a ROC in 2010 is estimated to be worth £40.55, dropping to £39.34 in 2015 (based on 2008-09 figures). It should, however, be noted that only about 80 per cent. of this value is likely to be passed to the generators through Power Purchase Agreements.
	Onshore and offshore wind will also receive a Levy Exemption Certificate worth £4.70 for each MWh of electricity they generate (based on 2009-10 figures).

Energy Supply

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what methodology his Department uses to calculate the level of expected energy unserved.

David Kidney: The Government published a paper setting out the methodology for expected energy unserved as part of the Energy Markets Outlook Report in October 2007. This is available on the BIS website at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file41831.pdf

Energy: Prices

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what guidance his Department provides to energy customers switching suppliers for them to avoid tariffs that become more expensive during the changeover period.

David Kidney: Ofgem is responsible for the regulation of gas and electricity supply, including the rules governing switching supplier. Customers switching supplier may cancel the agreement within seven working days after receiving the confirmation letter from the new supplier, or seven days after signing a contract face to face with a sales agent.
	Customers may also exercise their right to transfer supply to a different tariff or supplier without having to pay the increased charges providing they inform their new supplier within 20 working days of receiving the notification of a price change, and then start the switching process within a further 15 working days. Suppliers must include a reminder of these rights in the price notifications sent to customers.

Fossil Fuels: Imports

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the  (a) gross and  (b) net quantity of (i) coal, (ii) oil and (iii) gas imported into the UK was in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: The amounts of coal, oil and gas imported and exported by the UK for each year between 2004 and 2008 are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Coal 
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Imports 36,153 43,968 50,529 43,365 43,875 
			 Exports 622 536 443 544 599 
			 Net imports 35,531 43,432 50,086 42,821 43,276 
		
	
	
		
			  Primary  o il 
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Imports 62,517 58,885 59,443 57,357 60,074 
			 Exports 64,504 54,099 50,195 50,999 48,410 
			 Net imports -1,987 4,786 9,248 6,358 11,664 
		
	
	
		
			  Petroleum products 
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Imports 18,545 22,512 26,828 25,093 23,919 
			 Exports 30,495 29,722 29,009 30,017 28,811 
			 Net imports -11,950 -7,210 -2,181 -4,921 -4,892 
		
	
	
		
			  Gas 
			  GigaWatt  h ours 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Imports 133,033 173,328 244,029 338,026 407,054 
			 Exports 114,112 96,181 120,591 123,158 122,670 
			 Net imports 18,921 77,147 123,438 214,868 284,384

Fossil Fuels: Russia

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the  (a) gross and  (b) net quantity of (i) coal, (ii) oil and (iii) gas imported from Russia was in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: The amounts of coal, oil and gas imported from and exported to Russia by the UK for each year between 2004 and 2008 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Thousand tonnes 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			  Coal  
			 Imports 9,932 17,521 22,285 20,106 21,102 
			 Exports 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Net imports 9,932 17,521 22,285 20,106 21,102 
			   
			  Primary oil  
			 Imports 9,199 5,649 10,344 8,641 8,308 
			 Exports 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Net imports 9,199 5,649 10,344 8,641 8,308 
			   
			  Petroleum products  
			 Imports 1,810 1,190 1,186 1,282 1,410 
			 Exports 50 0 0 4 0 
			 Net imports 1,760 1,190 1,186 1,278 1,410 
		
	
	Any UK gas sourced from Russia is negligible.

Fuel Poverty

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in  (a) England and  (b) the UK who are in fuel poverty in 2010.

David Kidney: We will be producing and publishing projections for England in 2010 later this year.

Housing: Insulation

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many houses have been insulated in Bolton under Government schemes in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: The three principal Government schemes to encourage take-up of energy efficiency measures in Great Britain are Warm Front, the Decent Homes programme, and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT). Table A shows the number of homes in Bolton to be insulated under Warm Front since the scheme began in 2000.
	Local authority and housing association homes are assisted through the Government-funded Decent Homes programme, as well as councils' own capital resources. Table B shows the capital investment allocated by Government to Bolton council for their housing stock since 2001 through Decent Homes.
	CERT is an obligation on energy suppliers to achieve reductions in the level of CO2 emitted by the domestic sector. It and its predecessor schemes have delivered some 7.5 million key insulation measures to homes in Great Britain since 2002. Energy suppliers are not currently required to report at local authority level where they have installed measures. The Department is currently finalising agreements with the suppliers and the Energy Saving Trust which will enable the reporting of the number of CERT measures professionally installed to a local authority level. It will also allow local authorities to sign agreements with the Energy Saving Trust to see energy efficiency delivery in their local areas.
	
		
			  Table A: Number of houses in Bolton that have been insulated through the Warm Front Scheme in the last five years 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1) 
			 Cavity Wall Insulation 212 568 500 412 249 
			 Draught proofing 162 485 492 293 189 
			 Loft Insulation 268 621 632 525 323 
			 Total 642 1674 1624 1230 761 
			 (1) Up to 28 February 2010.  Source: EAGA 2010 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Number of LA dwellings that received insulation, and associated expenditure ,  Bolton 200 5 -09 
			   Dwellings  Expenditure (£000) 
			 2005 1,276 299 
			 2006 102 24 
			 2007 2,378 559 
			 2008 1,812 482 
			 2009 89 24 
			  Source: Annual returns to Communities and Local Government

Insulation

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made a recent estimate of the number and proportion of homes with  (a) no,  (b) less than 50 mm of,  (c) between 50 and 99 mm of,  (d) between 100 and 149 mm of,  (e) between 150 and 199 mm of and  (f) 200 mm or more of loft insulation.

Joan Ruddock: The most recent assessment of loft insulation in homes was undertaken for the English Housing Survey in 2008. The relevant data from that survey are summarized in the following table:
	
		
			  Insulation status  No i nsulation  Less than 50mm  50 up to 99mm  100 up to 149mm  150  up to 199mm  200mm or more 
			 Thousands of dwellings 670 532 4,179 6,913 2,759 4,1685 
			 Percentage of dwellings 3.0 2.4 18.8 31.1 12.4 21.1

Insulation: Government Assistance

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes have had insulation improvements funded by his Department since 11 September 2008.

Joan Ruddock: The Warm Front Scheme provides loft and cavity wall insulation and draught proofing for vulnerable households. The scheme records the measures delivered. Some homes will have received more than one insulation measure. The following table shows the number of insulation measures delivered by the scheme between 11 September 2008 and 28 February 2010.
	
		
			  Total  insulation installed - 11 September 2008 to 28 February 2010 
			  Insulation measure  Number installed 
			 Cavity Wall Insulation 28,209 
			 Draught proofing 33,776 
			 Loft Insulation 47,230 
			 Total 109,215 
			  Note: A proportion of these measures were funded by contributions from energy suppliers as part of the CERT programme.

Joint Research Centre

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether  (a) his Department and  (b) the Office for Civil Nuclear Security will provide (i) personnel and (ii) resources to the Euratom/Joint Research Centre Research Laboratory in Karlsruhe.

David Kidney: The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Office for Civil Nuclear Security do not, and have no plans to, provide personnel or resources to the Joint Research Centre (JRC) laboratory in Karlsruhe.
	The Institute for Transuranium Elements (JRC-ITU) in Karlsruhe is one of seven institutes of the JRC that functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the European Union. Funding for the JRC-ITU is provided by the European Commission (EC). The EC has allocated €517 million for the nuclear activities of the JRC under Euratom Framework Programme 7.

Natural Gas

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what the  (a) lowest and  (b) highest daily volume of UK continental shelf natural gas production has been since 1 September 2008;
	(2)  what the  (a) lowest and  (b) highest monthly volume of UK continental shelf natural gas production has been since 1 September 2008.

David Kidney: In the period 1 September 2008 to 31 December 2009 (the latest month for which data are available), the  (a) lowest monthly volume of UK continental shelf gross gas production was 3.4 billion cubic metres in August 2009, and  (b) the highest was 6.8 billion cubic metres in January 2009.
	The Department for Energy and Climate change collects monthly data from the gas operators and it is not, therefore, possible to identify the lowest and highest daily volumes of gas production.

Natural Gas

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the gas balancing alert trigger level was for each day between 1 and 19 January 2010.

David Kidney: The gas balancing alert trigger levels are set by National Grid and are published on the National Grid Website, under Notices, at:
	http://marketinformation.natgrid.co.uk/gas/DataItemExplorer.aspx

Natural Gas: Electricity

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the percentage of UK electricity likely to be supplied from renewable sources in each year to 2015.

David Kidney: The following table gives the percentage of electricity generation from renewable sources in the central scenario from the Low Carbon Transition plan.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2010 7.0 
			 2011 7.6 
			 2012 8.6 
			 2013 10.6 
			 2014 13.3 
			 2015 16.4

Natural Gas: Imports

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the UK's gas demand was met from  (a) imports via a pipeline,  (b) imports via liquefied natural gas terminals and  (c) domestic production in the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Kidney: The Department for Energy and Climate change collects and publishes monthly data on production, imports and exports of gas in tables ET 4.2 and ET 4.3 on DECC's energy statistics website:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/source/gas/gas.aspx
	The tables mentioned above contain provisional 2009 data which show that gross demand (which includes gas exported) was met as follows:
	(a) Imports by pipeline 32 per cent.
	(b) Imports via liquefied natural gas terminals 10 per cent.
	(c) Domestic production 58 per cent.

Natural Gas: Storage

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the  (a) capacity and  (b) maximum withdrawal rate is of each UK gas storage site.

David Kidney: The Government do not publish detailed technical information on each storage site. However, the latest information on both the capacity and maximum deliverability by UK gas storage site can be found in National Grid's 2009 Ten Year Statement.

Nuclear Power: Research

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has undertaken into the economic viability of installing, maintaining and decommissioning new nuclear plants without public funding; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: The White Paper on Nuclear Power (2008) states that
	it will be for energy companies to fund, develop and build new nuclear power stations in the UK, including meeting the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of waste management costs.
	Section 2 of the White Paper includes more detail on the Government's assessment of the economics of nuclear power.
	As announced in the 2009 pre-Budget report, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and HM Treasury are taking forward work to ensure the electricity market framework can most effectively deliver a fair deal for the consumer and the low-carbon investment needed in the long-term. This work will report back with initial findings at Budget 2010.

Public Bodies: Energy

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials are employed by the (a) Coal Authority, (b) Committee on Radioactive Waste Management, (c) Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (d) UK Energy Research Partnership and (e) Civil Nuclear Police Authority.

David Kidney: The number of officials employed by these organisations is set out in the table:
	
		
			  Organisation  Number of employees 
			 Coal Authority 172 
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (1)355 
			 Civil Nuclear Police Authority (2)998 
			 (1) Executives/staff plus eight non executives (2) Employees - made up of 837 police officers and 141 police staff with an additional 20 agency/staff. In addition, the chairman and two independent members of the board are appointed by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and are not included in the employee figures but are on the payroll of the CNPA 
		
	
	The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management is an advisory body to the UK Government and devolved administrations and does not employ any officials directly. The Committee's Secretariat consists of three to four people employed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
	The Energy Research Partnership is a partnership between, government, industry and research organisations. No civil servants (officials) are employed by ERP. The ERP's Secretariat is supported by a civil servant on a part-time basis.

Renewable Energy

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of  (a) heating and  (b) domestic heating in the UK came from renewable sources in the latest period for which figures are available.

Joan Ruddock: In 2008 renewable heat accounted for 1.0 per cent. of non-electrical heat production in the UK, on a net calorific value basis (7.4 terawatt hours out of 713 terawatt hours). There is no available breakdown on the split between domestic and non-domestic renewable heat production, but estimates suggest that the proportion is similar for domestic heating.

Warm Front Scheme

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to paragraph 7.39, page 127, of the pre-Budget report, Cm 7747, what the budget for the Warm Front scheme is in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-20,  (c) 2010-11 and  (d) 2011-12.

David Kidney: The following tables show the actual spend in 2008-09 and the budget in 2009-10 and 2010-11 for the Warm Front scheme:
	
		
			   Actual spend (£ million) 
			 2008-09 397.4 
		
	
	
		
			   Budget (£ million) 
			 2009-10 369 
			 2010-11 345 
		
	
	The budget for 2011-12 is yet to be announced.

Wind Power

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has undertaken research into the cost of  (a) installing and  (b) maintaining (i) off-shore and (ii) on-shore wind turbines in relation to (A) their capacity factor and (B) the price of electricity produced in each of these ways; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: The analysis underpinning Renewable Energy Strategy, published in July 2009, used assumptions on the generating costs of different electricity generating technologies to 2020, full details of which are set out in Element (2009) and Redpoint/Trilemma (2009), which are available on the DECC website. The first table as follows summarises these generation cost assumptions with respect to wind generation in 2009, according to load factor assumptions.
	In their work for the Renewable Energy Strategy (2009), Redpoint also calculated levelised costs for onshore and offshore wind for the 2009 base capital expenditure levels as follows and other assumptions in the above table. These are set out in the second table.
	
		
			  Technology (source)  Load factor (percentage)  Capital expenditure base (range) in £/kW  Operating expenditure in £/kW/year  Technology life (years) 
			 Offshore wind (Redpoint/Trilemma, 2009) 41 2,372 (1)68 (1)20 
			  35 (2,159-3,036)   
			  
			 Onshore wind large-scale (Redpoint/Trilemma, 2009) 29 1,208 (1)40 (1)20 
			  27 (1,172-1,329)   
			  21
			  
			 Wind 15 kW to 5,000 kW in size (Element, 2009) 2-32 1,500-3,000 44-74 10-20 
			 (1) Indicates a brace. 
		
	
	
		
			  Technology (source)  Load factor (percentage)  Levelised costs in £/MWh 
			 Onshore wind large-scale (Redpoint/Trilemma, 2009) 29 74 
			  27 80 
			  21 103 
			
			 Offshore wind (Redpoint/Trilemma, 2009) 41 112 
			  35 131 
		
	
	Research by Ernst  Young (2009) for DECC found a levelised cost for offshore wind of £144/MWh-available at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file51142.pdf

TREASURY

Civil Servants: Location

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2010,  Official Report, column 621W, on civil service: location, how many civil servants have been relocated from outside London and the South East to inside London and the South East since the 2004 Gershon Report.

Liam Byrne: The OGC maintains a central register that records the relocation of civil service posts from London and the South East. Where known this also records the movement of posts back into the area and these are netted off from the published relocation totals. The figures provided in the answer of 5 February 2010,  Official Report, column 621W, are net of 1,025 MOD posts, both military and civilian, which are known to have relocated into the South East.

Construction Industry Training Board

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment his Department has made of the effects on the construction industry of the Construction Industry Training Board Levy.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are working closely with the construction industry to mitigate the impact of the economic downturn. Skill levels and training capability in the industry are protected through the continuing levy arrangements directed by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).
	Levy income in 2008 amounted to £181.8 million. Training grant expenditure by the Board amounted to £176.1 million, with a further £23.2 million of support for employers, for instance for subsidised training courses and apprenticeship allowances. In 2008 CITB returned more money in direct financial assistance to employers than they received in levy (£1.10 returned to every £1 of levy received). This high ratio of support has been made possible because CITB has acted on behalf of the Industry to generate income from sources other than the levy.
	CITB have been working with Government and partners to address skills issues caused by the recession, for instance by introducing an Apprenticeship Matching Scheme to help redundant trainees in the industry complete their apprenticeships.
	Over the next three years the levy is anticipated to raise between £465 million to £475 million for training in the Construction Sector. Future levy income will enable the CITB to meet the changing skills needs of the sector as it moves out of recession and to meet the challenge of the Government's low-carbon agenda.

Construction Industry Training Board

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to assist companies in relation to the administration of the Construction Industry Training Board Levy.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department supports the work of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), who are responsible for the administration of the CITB Levy. In order to assist companies through the current recession the CITB have agreed to allow companies to pay the levy in monthly instalments, up to 15 months in some cases, at no extra charge.
	The process for completing levy assessments has been simplified and can now be done online. CITB have a dedicated help-desk, and information is available on their website to assist with levy assessments.
	CITB also have advisors who go out to companies to assess their training needs and how they can make best use of the grants available to support training their workforce.

Contingent Liabilities

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contingent liabilities of over £100,000 each Government department has; and on what date Parliament was informed of the contingent liability in each case.

Liam Byrne: Information on departmental contingent liabilities is reported in the resource accounts of each government department. As there is no central register this information could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Advisory Bodies

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many advisory councils his Department has established since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Details of departments' advisory non-departmental public bodies are published annually as part of the Cabinet Office's Public Bodies, copies of which are in the Library and can be accessed via:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/ndpbs.aspx

Departmental Buildings

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on office refurbishments in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: A full PFI refurbishment of the Treasury's building was completed in 2002. The cost of any refurbishments since that date have been included in the annual unitary payment made to the PFI provider and is not separately recorded.
	As a result of the introduction of a new accounting system in 2002-03, provision of information prior to that date could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Television

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many television programmes have been sponsored by  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies,  (c) HM Revenue and Customs and  (d) the Valuation Office Agency in each of the last five years; and at what cost.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 4 March 2010
	HM Treasury, its agencies and the Valuation Office Agency have not sponsored any television programmes in the past five years.
	For HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on 4 March 2010,  Official Report, column 1336W. This is the first sponsorship of this kind that HMRC has undertaken.

Employment

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of  (a) male and  (b) female workers were in the same job as 12 months earlier in each (i) region and (ii) country of the UK in each year since 2006.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 9 March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of (a) male and (b) female workers were in the same job as 12 months earlier in each (i)region and (ii) country of the UK in each year since 2006. (321117)
	Estimates provided in the attached table are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) covering the three months ending December for the period requested.
	As with any sample survey, the estimates provided are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Table 1: Percentage( 1)  of workers( 2)  in the same job for 12 months or longer October to December for each year-Not seasonally adjusted 
			  Percentage 
			   Male  Female  Total 
			   2006  2007  2008  2009  2006  2007  2008  2009  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			 United Kingdom 82.6 81.6 83.8 86.0 81.4 81.2 82.6 85.4 82.0 81.4 83.2 85.7 
			 Great Britain 82.7 81.6 83.7 86.1 81.5 81.4 82.8 85.6 82.1 81.5 83.3 85.8 
			 England 82.6 81.6 83.8 86.0 81.4 81.2 82.6 85.4 82.0 81.4 83.2 85.7 
			 North East 81.8 80.5 79.9 87.2 83.4 82.9 82.7 85.1 82.5 81.6 81.2 86.2 
			 North West 82.8 81.5 84.9 84.9 81.5 82.0 81.9 85.0 82.2 81.7 83.5 85.0 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 81.8 83.6 82.9 86.0 80.8 81.4 83.1 84.3 81.3 82.6 83.0 85.2 
			 East Midlands 82.8 81.3 83.7 86.6 80.7 80.2 82.6 86.2 81.8 80.8 83.2 86.4 
			 West Midlands 83.2 82.4 82.5 85.4 82.1 81.8 83.3 87.1 82.7 82.2 82.9 86.2 
			 East of England 82.7 81.8 85.3 87.5 81.6 80.2 83.5 85.7 82.2 81.1 84.5 86.7 
			 London 81.7 79.5 83.0 84.4 79.0 80.6 80.3 83.5 80.5 80.0 81.8 84.0 
			 South East 82.3 81.2 84.3 85.9 81.0 79.4 81.6 84.6 81.7 80.4 83.1 85.3 
			 South West 82.8 81.9 84.3 85.6 81.0 81.2 82.4 84.9 82.0 81.6 83.4 85.2 
			 Wales 83.2 82.1 83.4 86.1 82.6 81.6 86.3 85.4 83.0 81.9 84.8 85.7 
			 Scotland 83.5 81.2 83.2 86.9 82.1 82.8 83.3 87.4 82.8 81.9 83.3 87.2 
			 Northern Ireland 85.6 86.4 87.4 90.1 86.9 86.4 87.8 90.6 86.2 86.4 87.6 90.3 
			 (1 )The denominator includes those in employment who did not state the length of current employment. (2) People aged 16 and over in employment.  Source: Labour Force Survey

Equitable Life Assurance Society

Michael Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Dorset and North Poole of 2 February 2010,  Official Report, column 212W, on Equitable Life, what preparatory work his Department has undertaken on details of a payment scheme; what directions Ministers in his Department have given to departmental officials on the preparation of such details; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 22 February 2010
	Sir John Chadwick expects to submit his final advice to the Government on an Equitable Life ex gratia payment scheme in May.
	The Government recognise the importance of responding to this advice as quickly as possible. To accelerate this, HM Treasury has been working to develop aspects of scheme design in parallel to Sir John's work as far as possible. The Government will therefore be able to announce details of a payment scheme-fair to both policyholders and taxpayers-within two weeks of receiving Sir John's advice.

Government Departments: Carbon Emissions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2009,  Official Report, column 927W, on Government departments: carbon emissions, what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions likely to arise from Government operations in each department in 2010.

Ian Pearson: The measure in tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions likely to arise from each Department from Government operations in 2010-11 is estimated to be:
	
		
			  tonnes carbon dioxide 
			  Department  Carbon from offices 2010-11 estimate (1999-2000 baseline)  Carbon from vehicles for administrative purposes 2010-11 estimate (2005-06 baseline) 
			 BIS 15,057 340 
			 CLG 21,169 3,202 
			 CO 8,005 24 
			 DCSF 7,599 453 
			 DCMS 3,982 35 
			 DEFRA 13,474 20,089 
			 DFID 2,304 15 
			 DfT 20,384 9,230 
			 DWP 182,074 17,071 
			 DH 8,249 721 
			 FCO 9,827 240 
			 HMRC 122,224 17,572 
			 HMT 5,700 117 
			 HO 25,241 2,372 
			 LOD 11,794 1,793 
			 MOD 1,749,211 51,031 
			 MOJ 151,247 7,798 
			 ONS 6,311 2,809 
		
	
	The Government are committed to achieving a reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions from its estate of 12.5 per cent. and from administrative road travel by 15 per cent. both by 2010-11. Progress against these targets is reported annually in the Sustainable Development in Government report. Current projections indicate that Government is expected to exceed these targets: forecasting a 17.8 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from offices and 23.7 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from road vehicles by 2010-11.
	Data supporting these figures has been supplied by Departments and is published annually as part of the Sustainable Development in Government reporting process:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/sustainability_programme _progress.asp

International Advisory Business Council

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when the International Advisory Business Council was founded; who the founding members were; what the current membership of the council is; on what dates it has met; and who attended which meetings;
	(2)  what the aims and objectives are of the International Advisory Business Council; and what recent assessment he has made of its performance against targets.

Stephen Timms: The International Business Advisory Council was established by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in March 2006. The aim of the Council was to provide practical advice on public policy, as opposed to theoretical/academic analysis.
	At the creation of the International Business Advisory Council it was composed of the following members:
	Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO, LVMH
	Lord Browne, (then) Group Chief Executive, BP
	Dr. Jean-Pierre Garnier, (then) CEO, GlaxoSmithKline
	Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation
	Sir Li Ka-shing, Chairman, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
	Sir Terry Leahy, CEO, Tesco
	Sir John Rose, CEO, Rolls-Royce
	Robert Rubin, (then) Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup Inc.
	Lee Scott, (then) President and CEO, Wal-Mart
	Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Group
	Meg Whitman, (then) President and CEO, eBay
	James Wolfensohn, Special Envoy for Disengagement and Former President of the World Bank.
	The Council met for the first and only time at a breakfast meeting on 17 November 2006. In addition to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, the attendees were:
	Mr. Robert Rubin (then of Citigroup)
	Sir Li Ka-Shing (Hutchinson Whampoa)
	Sir John Rose (Rolls-Royce)
	Dr. Jean-Pierre Garnier (then of GlaxoSmithKline)
	Mr. Ratan Tata (Tata Group)
	Mr. Bernauld Arnault (LVMH)
	Ms Meg Whitman (then of eBay).
	In June 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown established the Business Council for Britain to ensure that the Government focus on the areas where it will make the greatest benefit to the business environment. Former members of the International Business Advisory Council are invited to attend formal meetings of the Business Council for Britain, and a number of them have done so.
	For information on the current work of the Business Council for Britain please consult:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/aboutus/corporate/bcb/index.html

Investment

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of  (a) UK investment overseas and  (b) foreign direct investment in the UK has been in each year since 2006; what proportion of investment in the UK was represented by foreign direct investment in each year; and what the level of investment in the UK was in each such year.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 5 March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the level of (a) UK investment overseas and (b) foreign direct investment in the UK has been in each year since 2006; what proportion of total investment in the UK was represented by foreign direct investment in each year; and what the total level of investment in the UK was in each such year. (321121)
	The tables attached provide the figures for financial flows and the international investment position of the UK from 2006 to 2008. In accordance with the definitions of balance of payments statistics, investment data are presented in terms of economic transactions between UK residents and the rest of the world. Total investment in the UK is calculated by aggregating the rest of the world's direct, portfolio and other investment in the UK. The figure reported for total investment therefore excludes any domestic investment in the UK. The figures are published in the financial account and the international investment position of the UK's Balance of Payments Statistical Bulletin. Provisional figures for 2009 will be published on Tuesday, 30 March 2010.
	
		
			  Table 1: Investment flows, in £ million unless otherwise stated( 1,2,3) 
			   2006  2007  2008 
			 UK investment overseas 571859 995677 -614196 
			 Foreign direct investment in the UK 84889 98150 49767 
			 Proportion of total Investment in the UK represented by foreign direct investment (percentage) 13.91 9.55 -8.31 
			 Total investment in the UK 610084 1027353 -599014 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: International investment position at end of year, in £ million unless otherwise stated( 4) 
			   2006  2007  2008 
			 UK investment overseas (assets) 5212273 6384633 6967542 
			 Foreign direct investment in the UK (liabilities) 578289 630164 672289 
			 Proportion of total Investment in the UK represented by foreign direct investment (percentage) 10.39 9.45 9.57 
			 Total investment in the UK (liabilities) 5564833 6667153 7026728 
			 (1) A negative figure implies disinvestment. (2) The figures are consistent with the Financial Account, Table J of the UK's Balance of Payments Statistical Bulletin Q3 2009. '(3) The annual figures for the investment flows are compiled by summing the flows of the four quarters. (4) The figures are consistent with the international investment position, Table K of the UK's Balance of Payments Statistical Bulletin Q3 2009.

Loans

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the tripartite authorities first discussed the risks associated with  (a) self-certification loans and  (b) non-deposit taking mortgage lending.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The three authorities-Bank, HMT and FSA-meet on a very regular basis at a number of levels under the auspices of the memorandum of understanding.
	The Standing Committee met at least monthly to discuss financial stability issues. The Government do not comment on meetings of the Standing Committee.
	Since the beginning of 2010, the Standing Committee has been replaced by the Council for Financial Stability, which will hold quarterly strategic discussions that will be publicly minuted. The Council will be established in statute by the Financial Services Bill, but the Government have moved to these arrangements initially on a non-statutory basis.

Public Bodies: Buildings

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a table showing for each public body the  (a) address,  (b) total floor area and  (c) vacant space recorded on the electronic property information mapping service e-PIMs database.

Ian Pearson: The information requested for the mandated central Government civil office estate as at 12 January 2010 has been placed in the Library of the House.

Public Bodies: Location

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which Government agencies and bodies created since 2004 have established their offices in London and the South East.

Ian Pearson: The Treasury does not hold a central record that lists which Government agencies and bodies created since 2004 have established their offices in London and the South East.

Public Sector: Pay

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of the change in the public sector wage bill attributable to  (a) pay awards and  (b) grade drift in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The ONS publish the Average Earnings Index (AEI) for the public sector on a monthly basis, which is available from 1997 at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=9537
	The difference between average earnings growth and pay settlements can be attributed to a number of factors, such as progression payments, performance related pay and grade drift (when it occurs). The ONS do not however break down the data in this way.

Revenue and Customs: Hotels

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruslip Northwood of 5 February 2010,  Official Report, column 621W, on hotels, for what reason  (a) HM Revenue and Customs and  (b) the Valuation Office Agency do not use the Expotel facility to book hotel accommodation.

Stephen Timms: Neither HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) nor the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) have a contract with Expotel to arrange any travel services on their behalf.
	HMRC and VOA currently contract with Carlson Wagonlit for travel management services relating to hotels, rail, air and conferencing.

Revenue and Customs: Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what bonus payments were made to HM Revenue and Customs staff  (a) at each grade and  (b) in each department in each of the last five financial years.

Stephen Timms: The information requested relating to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is provided in the table. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost, due to the work required to collate this. Data for 2009-10 has not yet been finalised.
	Performance bonuses are based on performance in the previous year.
	In 2007-08 bonus payments were made to top performers and good performers on the pay band range maximum, as they had received a lower consolidated pay award. In 2008-09 bonuses were paid only to top performers.
	
		
			   2007-08  2008-09 
			   Total bonus paid (rounded to nearest £000)  Average bonus paid (£)  Total bonus paid (rounded to nearest £000)  Average bonus paid (£) 
			 Admin Assistant 1,423,000 168 467,000 343 
			 Admin Officer 4,500,000 211 1,736,000 416 
			 Officer 4,764,000 325 2,421,000 555 
			 Higher Officer 3,013,000 437 1,830,000 701 
			 Senior Officer 1,603,000 582 1,096,000 872 
			 Fast Stream 77,000 496 46,000 695 
			 Grade 7 830,000 908 754,000 1,151 
			 Grade 6 633,000 1,123 653,000 1,465 
		
	
	
		
			   2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			   Total  bonus paid  (rounded to nearest  £000 )  Average  bonus pa id (£)  Total  bonus paid  (rounded to nearest  £000 )  Average  bonus pai d (£)  Total  bonus paid  (rounded to nearest  £000 )  Average  bonus pa id (£) 
			 AA 19,250 350 21,000 350 18,200 350 
			 AO 24,500 350 28,000 350 21,700 350 
			 EO 26,250 350 29,750 350 32,200 350 
			 HEO 67,650 550 88,000 550 73,700 550 
			 SEO 58,300 550 57,750 550 71,500 550 
			 G7 25,500 750 29,250 750 39,000 750 
			 G6 6,750 750 12,000 750 12,750 750 
			 Senior Civil Service 49,000 6,943 98,000 9,820 (1)- (1)- 
			 (1) Not yet finalised

Tax Allowances

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Ruslip Northwood of 5 February 2010,  Official Report, column 622W, on Revenue and Customs, what the cost to the Exchequer has been of tax relief from the Employee Share Scheme; whether that amount is included in the £9.6 million referred to in the answer; how many transactions have been processed under the scheme in each year; how many individual taxpayers have participated in the scheme; what consultants were used to formulate the project; and at what cost.

Stephen Timms: The estimated cost to the Exchequer of tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) relief of tax-advantaged employee share schemes and the number of individual taxpayer participants in each of the schemes are published at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/emp_share_schemes/menu.htm
	The amount of £9.6 million referred to in the answer to hon. Member for Ruislip Northwood (Mr. Hurd) of 5 February 2010,  Official Report, column 622W, is not included in the estimates of the cost of tax and NICs relief, because it is a separate cost of introducing and providing the Employee Share Schemes (ESS) online service and database. The ESS service was delivered by Capgemini under HMRC's outsourced IT contract. The numbers of transactions processed using the ESS service database per year are approximately 40,000 in 2007-08, 28,000 in 2008-09 and 23,000 to date in 2009-10.

Tax Collection

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the membership is of the group in HM Revenue and Customs advising on the implementation of the recommendations of the Calman Commission report of changes to tax collection.

Stephen Timms: The advisory group has not been formed yet. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will issue invitations to professional and employer representatives before the relevant legislation is introduced. The group will enable HMRC to consult on some of the technical and practical implications of the implementation of the proposed tax changes announced in the Government's White Paper 'Scotland's Future in the United Kingdom', available at:
	http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk

Taxation: Football

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the  (a) football debts and  (b) other transfer fees of a football club in administration take priority over debts owned to HM Revenue and Customs; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: There is nothing in insolvency legislation that provides for football debts or other transfer fees of clubs in administration to be paid prior to other unsecured creditors such as HM Revenue and Customs.
	Ensuring tax is paid on time should be at the centre of any football club's business strategy, as it should be for any other responsible enterprise.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education: Fees and Charges

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average fee cost was of a further education level 3 course for adults in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: Learners aged from 19 up to 25 undertaking further education courses which will lead to their first full Level 3 qualification (two A levels or vocational equivalent) are legally entitled to have their training fully funded. This approach ensures that young adults have the opportunity to gain a full level 3 qualification, enabling them to progress into employment or further learning, including higher education.
	Where a learner is outside of this entitlement and is not in receipt of income-related benefits then they or their employer is expected to contribute to the cost of their learning to reflect the benefits they will realise from this investment. For the 2010/11 academic year, the assumed level of fee contribution will be based on 50 per cent. of the national funding rate.
	However, individual colleges and training organisations, as independent institutions, have the flexibility to set their own fees for each course, and data on the levels of fees collected for each course are not centrally collected. It is therefore not possible to provide an average cost of a further education level 3 course to the learner.

Adult Education: Fees and Charges

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average course fee paid by employers taking on adult apprentices was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: In 2008/09 academic year, the number of apprenticeship frameworks completed was 143,400, meaning that the Government's public service agreement target was met two years early. Within this group, 75,700 of these apprentices were adults, aged 19 and above. Adult apprentices are funded differently from those aged between 16 and 18, and the employer is expected to make a contribution to the cost of the course in line with the national fee assumption, which for 2010/11 academic year will be 50 per cent. of the national funding rate. Employer contributions may be in cash to the training provider or in kind through supporting the delivery of the training activity.
	However, individual colleges and training organisations, as independent institutions, have the flexibility to set their own fee cost for each course, including apprenticeships, and data on the levels of fees collected for each course are not centrally collected. It is therefore not possible to provide an average fee for an adult apprenticeship.

Adult Education: Finance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will review the equity of the allocation process for distribution of Adult Safeguarded Learning funds during the transfer of responsibility for informal learning to the Skills Funding Agency.

Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 758W.

Audit: Misconduct

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what reports his Department has received of instances of malpractice by chartered accountants in company financial audits since January 2008.

Ian Lucas: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not routinely receive reports of malpractice by chartered accountants in company financial audits. These issues are the responsibility of the Recognised Supervisory Bodies for auditors (RSBs), and in cases which raise important issues affecting the public interest, the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The Professional Oversight Board of the FRC provides statistical information on complaints to the RSBs about statutory auditors, in its Annual Report to my Noble Friend the Secretary of State, which is presented to Parliament each year.
	The RSBs are the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants; the Association of Authorised Public Accountants; the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland; and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Banks

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2010,  Official Report, column 1105W, on banks, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of establishing a state-owned investment bank; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2010,  Official Report, column reference 1105W.

Bearwood Corporate Services

Michael Meacher: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will investigate the status as a company of Bearwood Corporate Services since 2003.

Ian Lucas: Bearwood Corporate Services Ltd. is a trading company and has been since 2003. The latest accounts on file are for the year ending 30 September 2008 and the latest annual return is made up to 23 June 2009. The company is, therefore, filed up to date.

Building Colleges for the Future Programme

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been allocated in capital funding for further education colleges in each  (a) parliamentary constituency,  (b) local authority area and  (c) region in each of the last three years.

Kevin Brennan: In total across this current spending period, Government will spend £1.7 billion on college buildings-with a further £900 million already earmarked for the next spending period.
	The following three tables provide the information requested:
	
		
			  Table 1: Detailed college capital projects approved in the LSC financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, broken down by parliamentary constituency 
			  £ 
			   Grant approved in LSC financial year: 
			  Local authority area  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Aldershot total 130,000 765,000 - 
			 Altrincham and Sale, West total - 17,753,075 - 
			 Barnsley, Central total 942,284 - 38,747,209 
			 Barrow and Furness total - - 31,967,000 
			 Basingstoke total - 9,368,000 - 
			 Battersea total - 2,037,970 23,816,070 
			 Beverley and Holderness total 12,593,550 11,620,421 - 
			 Birmingham, Northfield total - - 53,928,565 
			 Birmingham, Yardley total 9,579,593 - - 
			 Bishop Auckland total - 18,249,030 - 
			 Blackpool, South total 10,719,000 - - 
			 Bolton, South-East total 6,402,000 73,680,080 - 
			 Bootle total - 368,139 - 
			 Bracknell total 26,431,460 - - 
			 Bradford ,West total 1,933,671 - - 
			 Brent, East total 1,720,245 - - 
			 Brentford and Isleworth total 243,769 59,132,738 - 
			 Bristol, East total 1,634,000 15,700,000 - 
			 Bristol, South total - 8,223,000 - 
			 Bromsgrove total 250,000 - - 
			 Burnley total 48,526,000 - - 
			 Bury, North total - 198,500 - 
			 Cheadle total - 833,132 - 
			 Chipping Barnet total - 20,371,333 - 
			 City of Chester total - - 47,872,000 
			 Colchester total 12,726,000 - - 
			 Cotswold total - 1,464,538 - 
			 Coventry, South total 16,881,835 - - 
			 Crewe and Nantwich total - 58,503,405 - 
			 Croydon, Central total - 28,969,905 - 
			 Croydon, South total - 31,887,240 - 
			 Dartford total 24,555,000 - 50,496,000 
			 Derby, South total 18,479,280 1,074,800 - 
			 Easington total 22,983,000 - - 
			 East Hampshire total 7,532,749 1,188,000 - 
			 Eddisbury total 6,237,944 - - 
			 Great Yarmouth total - 5,200,000 - 
			 Halesowen and Rowley Regis total 934,848 - - 
			 Harborough total - 36,899,513 - 
			 Harrow, West total 60,500 4,644,000 - 
			 Hartlepool Total - 20,753,000 38,994,000 
			 Hastings and Rye total - - 75,997,822 
			 Hazel Grove total - 39,156,000 - 
			 Hereford total 7,596,883 1,945,758 - 
			 Hertford and Stortford total 25,806,475 - - 
			 Hornchurch total - 1,078,000 - 
			 Horsham total - 386,000 - 
			 Huddersfield total 95,000 - 54,325,948 
			 Ipswich total 42,817,000 - - 
			 Keighley total 29,518,961 - - 
			 Kettering total - 210,067 27,000,000 
			 Kingston upon Hull, North total 5,510,038 10,343,700 - 
			 Leeds, Central total 3,764,346 5,314,000 - 
			 Leicester, South total 30,065,000 - - 
			 Lewes total - 6,212,000 - 
			 Leyton and Wanstead total 3,277,500 - 31,566,624 
			 Lincoln total 502,244 136,186 - 
			 Liverpool, Wavertree Total 432,544 17,402,873 - 
			 Loughborough total 2,621,136 - - 
			 Luton, North total - 49,742,000 - 
			 Maidenhead total - 11,032,000 - 
			 Manchester, Central total - 15,276,677 7,038,000 
			 Mitcham and Morden total - 11,454,727 - 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne Central total 389,417 - - 
			 Newcastle-under-Lyme total 24,104,548 5,274,509 - 
			 North West Norfolk total - 313,870 - 
			 Northampton, North total - 67,024,221 - 
			 Nottingham, South total 3,044,710 - - 
			 Orpington total - 24,624,000 - 
			 Pontefract and Castleford total 453,000 - - 
			 Portsmouth, North total 23,871,000 - - 
			 Preston total 6,424,000 - - 
			 Regent's Park and Kensington, North total 11,143,899 92,113,362 - 
			 Reigate total - 54,990,000 - 
			 Rochford and Southend, East total - 3,925,000 - 
			 Rotherham total - 250,800 - 
			 Selby total - 24,779,157 - 
			 Sheffield, Central total 36,067,880 - - 
			 Sheffield, Brightside total - 66,948 - 
			 Solihull total 1,672,580 19,864,490 - 
			 South-East Cambridgeshire total 2,314,000 - - 
			 South Norfolk total - 13,396,000 - 
			 South West Surrey total 1,050,355 - - 
			 Southampton, Itchen total - 19,404,000 - 
			 St. Helens, South total 23,149,995 16,238,965 17,400,000 
			 Stockport total 16,566,000 3,432,296 - 
			 Stockton, South total - 24,281,000 - 
			 Stoke-on-Trent, Central total 7,755,000 23,845,618 - 
			 Tonbridge and Malling total 5,807,800 72,878,000 - 
			 Truro and St. Austell total - 12,537,700 - 
			 Tyne Bridge total 1,165,000 4,285,000 - 
			 Walsall, South total 37,087,459 - - 
			 Warley total - - 47,184,856 
			 Warwick and Leamington total - 10,023,036 - 
			 Watford total - 16,892,000 - 
			 Weaver Vale total - 25,129,523 - 
			 West Lancashire total 1,322,000 - 32,596,186 
			 Westmorland and Lonsdale total 10,126,000 - - 
			 Wolverhampton, South-West total 1,350,000 - - 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Detailed college capital projects approved in the LSC financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, broken down by local authority area 
			  £ 
			   Grant approved in LSC financial year: 
			  Local authority area  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Barnet LBC total - 20,371,333 - 
			 Barnsley MBC total 942,284 - 38,747,209 
			 Birmingham City Council total 9,579,593 - 53,928,565 
			 Blackpool Council total 10,719,000 - - 
			 Bolton Council total 6,402,000 73,680,080 - 
			 Bracknell Forest Borough Council total 26,431,460 - - 
			 Bradford total 29,518,961 - - 
			 Bradford MDC total 1,933,671 - - 
			 Brent LBC total 1,720,245 - - 
			 Bristol City Council total 1,634,000 23,923,000 - 
			 Bury MBC total - 198,500 - 
			 Cambridgeshire County Council total 2,314,000 - - 
			 Cheshire East Council total 6,237,944 58,503,405 - 
			 Cheshire West and Chester Council total - 25,129,523 47,872,000 
			 Cornwall county council total - 12,537,700 - 
			 Coventry City Council total 16,881,835 - - 
			 Croydon LBC total - 60,857,145 - 
			 Cumbria County Council total 10,126,000 - 31,967,000 
			 Derbyshire County Council total 18,479,280 1,074,800 - 
			 Dudley total 934,848 - - 
			 Durham County Council total 22,983,000 18,249,030 - 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire total 12,593,550 11,620,421 - 
			 East Sussex County Council total - 6,212,000 75,997,822 
			 Essex County Council total 12,726,000 - - 
			 Gateshead Council total - 4,285,000 - 
			 Gloucestershire total - 1,464,538 - 
			 Hampshire LA total 31,533,749 11,321,000 - 
			 Harrow Council total 60,500 4,644,000 - 
			 Hartlepool total - 20,753,000 38,994,000 
			 Havering total - 1,078,000 - 
			 Herefordshire Council total 7,596,883 1,945,758 - 
			 Hertfordshire county council total 25,806,475 16,892,000 - 
			 Hounslow LBC total 243,769 59,132,738 - 
			 Kensington and Chelsea LBC total - 4,445,362 - 
			 Kent County Council total 30,362,800 97,502,000 50,496,000 
			 Kingston upon Hull City Council total 5,510,038 10,343,700 - 
			 Kirklees total 95,000 - 54,325,948 
			 Lancashire County Council total 54,950,000 - 32,596,186 
			 Leeds total 3,764,346 - - 
			 Leeds City Council total - 5,314,000 - 
			 Leicestershire County Council total 32,686,136 36,899,513 - 
			 Lincolnshire total 502,244 136,186 - 
			 Liverpool total 432,544 17,402,873 - 
			 Luton total - 49,742,000 - 
			 Manchester City Council total - 16,109,809 7,038,000 
			 Merton total - 11,454,727 - 
			 Newcastle total 1,554,417 - - 
			 Norfolk County Council total - 18,909,870 - 
			 North Yorkshire County council total - 24,779,157 - 
			 Northamptonshire County Council total - 67,234,288 27,000,000 
			 Nottinghamshire County Council total 3,044,710 - - 
			 Rotherham MBC total - 250,800 - 
			 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead total - 11,032,000 - 
			 Sandwell MBC total - - 47,184,856 
			 Sefton total - 368,139 - 
			 Sheffield City Council total 36,067,880 66,948 - 
			 Solihull Council total 1,672,580 19,864,490 - 
			 Southampton City Council total - 19,404,000 - 
			 Southend-on-sea borough council total - 3,925,000 - 
			 St. Helen's Council total 23,149,995 16,238,965 17,400,000 
			 Staffordshire total 24,104,548 5,274,509 - 
			 Stockport MBC total 16,566,000 42,588,296 - 
			 Stockton on Tees BC total - 24,281,000 - 
			 Stoke on Trent City Council total 7,755,000 23,845,618 - 
			 Suffolk County Council total 42,817,000 - - 
			 Surrey County Council total 1,050,355 54,990,000 - 
			 Trafford MBC total - 17,753,075 - 
			 Wakefield total 453,000 - - 
			 Walsall Council total 37,087,459 - - 
			 Waltham Forest total 3,277,500 - 31,566,624 
			 Wandsworth LBC total - 2,037,970 23,816,070 
			 Warwickshire County Council total - 10,023,036 - 
			 West Sussex County Council total - 386,000 - 
			 Westminster City Council total 11,143,899 87,668,000 - 
			 Wigan MBC total 1,322,000 - - 
			 Wolverhampton City Council total 1,350,000 - - 
			 Worcestershire total 250,000 - - 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Detailed college capital projects approved in the LSC financial years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10, broken down by region 
			  £ 
			   Grant approved in LSC financial year: 
			  Region  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 EM total 54,712,370 105,344,787 27,000,000 
			 ER total 83,663,475 89,468,870 - 
			 GI total 16,445,913 276,313,275 55,382,694 
			 NE total 309,000 33,526,000 71,590,186 
			 NR total 24,228,417 29,757,030 - 
			 NW total 131,553,232 272,257,665 104,277,000 
			 SE total 87,730,615 176,223,000 126,493,822 
			 SW total 1,634,000 37,925,238 - 
			 WM total 107,212,746 60,953,411 101,113,421 
			 YH total 90,878,730 52,375,026 93,073,157

Departmental Advertising

Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was spent on advertising by  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its (i) non-departmental public bodies and (ii) executive agencies in each year since 2005.

Patrick McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil) on 8 March 2010,  Official Report, column 138W.

Departmental Correspondence

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to how many  (a) emails and  (b) letters sent by post from members of the public his Department has responded since May 2007.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has responded to 76,016 letters from members of the public since May 2007.
	Since January 2009 the Department has responded to 10,931 e-mails. The Department has no records for e-mails before that date.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade are employed by his Department to assist special advisers.

Patrick McFadden: There are currently four full-time equivalent staff employed by the Department to assist the four special advisers who support my Noble Friend the Secretary of State and the other two BIS Ministers who attend Cabinet each week, my Noble Friend the Minister of State for Science and Innovation and myself.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills from which companies his Department sourced temporary staff in each of the last three years; how many temporary staff his Department employed in each year; and what the monetary value of the contracts with each such company was in each such year.

Patrick McFadden: For the supply of temporary staff (interim managers, specialist contractors and admin/clerical workers), the Department uses a range of companies under the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Buying Solutions framework agreement.
	The OGC is an independent office of HM Treasury, established to help Government deliver best value from their spending.
	The procurement of temporary staff is not managed centrally in the Department as responsibility has been devolved locally to line management. Companies used under the framework will vary depending on the specialist needs of the line. Therefore the information is not easily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Engineering: Construction

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of UK engineering construction firms which have secured contracts for work in other EU member states in each of the last five years.

Ian Lucas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 October 2009 , Official Report, column 613W. Information relating to the securing of individual contracts in a particular sector, including engineering construction, is not collated by Government. The awarding of engineering construction contracts is a business matter for the parties concerned, and the various award criteria are commercial issues for the private sector clients involved.

Higher Education: Admissions

Michael Gove: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many and what proportion of students from  (a) comprehensive and  (b) independent schools attended Russell Group universities in (i) 1997, (ii) 2003 and (iii) the most recent year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The latest estimates show that some 19 per cent. (23,700) of state school A level candidates who attempted one or more A levels (or equivalent) at age 17 in 2005/06, progressed to a Russell Group HE institution by age 19 in 2006/07. The equivalent figure for candidates from independent school pupils was 46 per cent. (13,000).
	These figures have been estimated using matched data from the National Pupil Database and the Higher Education Statistics Agency Student Record.

Holiday Leave

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to how many contracted days' paid holiday on average employees in each employment category in the  (a) public and  (b) private sector were entitled in the latest year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many contracted days' paid holiday on average employees in each employment category in the (a) public and (b) private sector were entitled in the latest year for which figures are available. 320648
	Estimates of average paid holiday entitlement per year are provided in the attached table by sector and by whether the employees are part-time or full-time. The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The distinction between public and private sector is based on respondents' views about the organisation for which they work. Similarly, the distinction between full-time and part-time is based purely on how respondents regard their employment status.
	As with any sample survey, the estimates provided are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Paid holiday entitlement for full-time and part-time employees by sector, three months ending December 2009, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			   Average paid holiday entitlement (days per year)( 1) 
			   Public sector( 2)  Private sector  Total 
			 Full-time 31 23 25 
			 Part-time 23 14 17 
			 All employees 29 21 23 
			 (1) Excluding public holidays.  (2) Includes nationalised industry or state corporation, central government, civil service, local government or council (including police, fire services and local authority controlled schools or colleges), university or other grant funded educational establishment, health authority or NHS trust and armed forces.   Source:  ONS Labour Force Survey.

Minimum Wage

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people were paid at the rate of the national minimum wage in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: Data for earnings is not available at the local authority or constituency level because of small sample sizes at these levels in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
	Due to rounding in the conversion of payroll data into hourly wage rates and small sample sizes for 16-17 and 18-21 year olds in ASHE, it is not possible at the regional level to infer the number of employees earning exactly at the national minimum wage (NMW) with sufficient certainty. However it is possible to estimate the number who were paid at or below the NMW.
	Table 1 shows estimates from BIS analysis of ASHE for the number of jobholders in the North East Government Office Region and the UK who were paid at or below the NMW in April of each year from 2004 to 2009. Comparable data for earlier years is not available as supplementary information required for the estimates was introduced in 2004.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of jobholders earning at or below the national minimum wage rate in April of reference year 
			   North East  UK 
			 2004 40,000 580,000 
			 2005 50,000 690,000 
			 2006 40,000 740,000 
			 2007 50,000 830,000 
			 2008 50,000 830,000 
			 2009 50,000 790,000 
			  Source: BIS analysis of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000.

Mobile Phones: Competition

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effect on new entrants to the market of the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Orange.

Kevin Brennan: It is the responsibility of the relevant competition authorities to determine whether a merger results in any substantial lessening of competition. This test includes any likely effect on new entrants into a market. In this case, the investigation was undertaken by the European Commission and its decision can be viewed at the following link:
	http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/208

Motor Vehicles: Government Assistance

Charles Hendry: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of trends in the volume of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the manufacture of vehicles sold to consumers participating in the vehicle scrappage scheme.

Ian Lucas: No detailed assessment has been made this Department. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, average CO2 emissions of a car bought through the scheme was 133.3 g/km, almost 10 per cent. below the overall new car market average and 26.8 per cent. below the average figure for a scrapped car.

National Enterprise Academy: Expenditure

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been spent on  (a) the National Enterprise Academy and  (b) enterprise academies in each year since their inception.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) Learning and Skills Council (LSC) spend on the National Enterprise Academy was £394,950 in 2008-09 financial year, and £1,498,985 in 2009-10 financial year, a total of £1,893,935 to date (as at February 2010).
	 (b) There are no other enterprise academies in receipt of funding through the National Skills Academies programme.

Overseas Students: Entry Clearances

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has made an estimate of the effects of recent changes in the Tier 4 points based visa system on  (a) the number of overseas students attending UK universities over the next 10 years and  (b) the income of UK universities over the next 10 years.

David Lammy: The changes to Tier 4 of the points based system, announced by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 10 February, are designed to ensure that there are no barriers to higher education institutions offering courses to genuine international students.
	Demand from international students to study in the UK has grown considerably over recent years and early indications are that it continues to grow in 2010. We do not forecast the likely numbers of international students studying in the UK for future years. It is entirely up to universities to decide how many international students they enrol. In 2007/08 universities derived approximately 8 per cent. of their income from international students.
	As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear at the start of the year we believe there is scope to double the value of higher education exports, both through continuing to recruit international students as well as the delivery of courses and qualifications abroad.

Overseas Trade: Kazakhstan

Paul Keetch: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the level of trade between the UK and Kazakhstan; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: HM Revenue and Customs Overseas Trade Statistics recorded UK exports of goods to Kazakhstan in 2009 worth about £260 million, compared with £209 million in 2008. UK imports of goods from Kazakhstan in 2009 were worth about £174 million, compared with £112 million in 2008.
	The ONS UK Balance of Payments Pink Book gives a figure of UK exports of services to Kazakhstan in 2008 worth about £915 million, and imports worth about £363 million. Geographical data on trade in services for 2009 are due to be published at the end of July.

Post Office

Nick Palmer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the suitability of Post Office Ltd as a bidder for the contract set out in tender notice 2009/S 247-354963.

Patrick McFadden: The Government are keen for the Post Office to expand its Government services work. One of the major new opportunities in this area is for post offices to act as centres for the capture of biometric data for passports, driving licences, and potentially ID cards. This issue has been actively considered within Government and the Post Office is expected to bid to be a service provider. The Post Office agreed a deal last year with the DVLA to provide a one-stop biometric data capture facility at 750 branches around the country and is therefore well placed to provide similar services.

Post Offices: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many post office branches there were in  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency,  (b) the London Borough of Bexley and  (c) Greater London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009.

Patrick McFadden: I have asked Alan Cook, managing director of Post Office Ltd. to respond directly to he hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department will provide to fund all existing private finance initiative and public-private partnership contracts in each of the next 10 years.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has one PFI contract which expires in 2014. This covers the supply of a wide range of ICT goods and services. The forecast funding is:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2010-11 22 
			 2011-12 22 
			 2012-13 22 
			 2013-14 22

Public Holidays

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the introduction of an additional public holiday; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has not made an estimate of the costs to the Department of the introduction of an additional public holiday. The additional Bank Holiday to mark Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee announced on 5 January is due to take place in June 2012, which falls in 2012-13 financial year.

Skills Funding Agency

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that the Skills Funding Agency publishes on its website minutes of its council and committee meetings within two weeks of those meetings taking place; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 4 March 2010
	The Skills Funding Agency, as an Agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will not have a council and committee structure. The Chief Executive of Skills Funding will ensure that there is external involvement in the Skills Funding Agency governance arrangements and this will take effect after the establishment of the agency on 1 April 2010. Relevant minutes will be available on the Skills Funding Agency website at appropriate intervals, subject to the redaction of any sensitive or confidential information which is exempt under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.

Supermarkets: Competition

Lembit �pik: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether it is his Department's policy to assist small shops adversely affected by competition from supermarkets; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The Government recognise the important role of small shops to local communities and, the national economy. There is a wide range of support available which can be accessed through business link:
	www.businesslink.gov.uk/realhelp
	Local planning authorities are required to take into account the Government's Planning Policy to help safeguard retail diversity and vibrancy of town centres which includes creating opportunities for small shops.
	Ensuring fair competition in markets is a matter for the independent competition authorities. The Competition Commission, who reported on the market on the UK supply of groceries in 2008 concluded that while the process of competition can be challenging, it was generally working well and delivered good outcomes for consumers.

Trade Promotion: Indonesia

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote UK trade and investment with Indonesia.

Ian Lucas: Indonesia is one of UK Trade and Investment's 17 high growth markets which received additional resource in 2006 to ensure UK business can benefit from the opportunities in this market. The Asia Task Force chaired by my Noble Friend the Secretary of State undertakes an outreach programme alerting UK business to the potential of Asia markets, Indonesia is a key component of this work. We expect this work to continue throughout 2010.
	My Noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Small Business visited Jakarta in November 2009. During meetings with the Government of Indonesia, he secured progress on a number of important market access issues that will help to open doors for British business. Following this visit, a report has been commissioned on doing business with Indonesia which will help UK companies to understand and navigate the business environment better in Indonesia. This work will be disseminated broadly later in the year.

Trade Promotion: Turkey

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to promote UK trade and investment with Turkey.

Ian Lucas: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has identified Turkey as one of 17 high growth markets which are afforded higher focus and greater attention under the 2006 strategy Prosperity in a Changing World. UKTI supports business through trade and investment teams based in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey. They provide a range of support services to UK companies wishing to trade with or set up joint ventures in Turkey. These are detailed on the UKTI web pages. There is also a team in Istanbul dedicated to promoting opportunities for investment into the UK by Turkish companies.
	Regular events are delivered through partner organisations in the English regions and in the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to make UK companies aware of the prospective opportunities of doing business in Turkey and how best to realise them.
	UKTI leads on the work of the Turkey-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), which identifies new business opportunities and also focuses on ways to tackle barriers to trade and improve the environment for business.
	My Noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Small Business, visited Turkey in July 2009 and a ministerial delegation from Turkey is due to visit the UK this month (March 2010).

UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation

Nick Harvey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the target market countries are of the UK Trade and Investments Defence and Security Organisation.

Ian Lucas: The current list of UKTI DSO Priority Markets is: Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Greece, India, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE and the USA. UKTI DSO is supporting campaigns in a total of 52 countries.

Unemployment

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in each ethnic group were not in education, employment or training in each quarter of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The following table gives the number and percentage of people aged(1) 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training for each ethnic group for every quarter in the last five years. These estimates are from the Labour Force survey.
	Please note that these estimates are subject to large sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with their confidence intervals(2) (CIs, given in Table 2), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a CI of+/-4.2 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 4.2pp above the estimate and 4.2pp below the estimate.
	These figures are not seasonally adjusted and therefore adjacent quarters are not directly comparable.
	(1)Age used is the respondents academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August.
	(2) Those given are 95 per cent. confidence intervals.
	
		
			  Table 1: People aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training for each ethnic group-England 
			Number NEET  Percentage NEET 
			  Quarter  Year  Total  White  Mixed  Asian or Asian British  Black or Black British  Other ethnic group  Total  White  Mixed  Asian or Asian British  Black or Black British  Other ethnic group 
			 Q1 2005 743,000 619,000 17,000 62,000 27,000 17,000 13.1 12.7 16.7 16.8 17.0 12.8 
			 Q2 2005 771,000 624,000 20,000 66,000 33,000 26,000 13.5 12.8 18.9 17.6 19.2 16.5 
			 Q3 2005 877,000 718,000 17,000 81,000 33,000 28,000 15.2 14.5 16.0 20.0 20.4 21.3 
			 Q4 2005 837,000 689,000 18,000 72,000 28,000 29,000 14.6 14.0 15.6 18.3 18.2 20.6 
			 Q1 2006 801,000 667,000 14,000 67,000 27,000 27,000 14.0 13.6 13.5 16.5 16.2 18.6 
			 Q2 2006 851,000 704,000 16,000 70,000 31,000 29,000 14.8 14.3 17.4 17.1 18.5 17.1 
			 Q3 2006 969,000 802,000 20,000 88,000 31,000 27,000 16.6 16.0 20.5 21.2 18.1 18.4 
			 Q4 2006 807,000 681,000 16,000 61,000 28,000 20,000 13.8 13.5 16.2 15.5 17.1 13.4 
			 Q1 2007 827,000 691,000 18,000 70,000 25,000 23,000 14.1 13.8 20.0 16.7 15.5 12.7 
			 Q2 2007 833,000 681,000 19,000 76,000 28,000 26,000 14.2 13.7 20.1 18.3 16.5 13.9 
			 Q3 2007 909,000 751,000 17,000 78,000 32,000 29,000 15.4 14.9 18.5 18.1 17.4 17.9 
			 Q4 2007 781,000 645,000 18,000 61,000 31,000 23,000 13.1 12.7 18.5 15.0 17.2 13.8 
			 Q1 2008 809,000 663,000 17,000 67,000 33,000 27,000 13.6 13.1 19.9 15.3 19.3 15.3 
			 Q2 2008 837,000 683,000 17,000 71,000 33,000 32,000 13.9 13.4 16.3 15.7 19.5 17.0 
			 Q3 2008 969,000 792,000 20,000 77,000 38,000 35,000 16.1 15.6 17.9 18.2 20.1 18.2 
			 Q4 2008 854,000 702,000 19,000 70,000 32,000 29,000 14.2 13.8 15.8 16.5 15.4 15.8 
			 Q1 2009 933,000 786,000 21,000 66,000 32,000 24,000 15.5 15.5 16.5 15.9 16.6 12.9 
			 Q2 2009 956,000 815,000 25,000 65,000 30,000 20,000 15.8 15.9 21.4 15.9 15.4 11.1 
			 Q3 2009 1,074,000 897,000 22,000 82,000 53,000 16,000 17.9 17.5 19.5 20.9 25.7 10.9 
			 Q4 2009 895,000 741,000 15,000 79,000 42,000 16,000 14.8 14.5 11.9 17.9 21.4 10.8 
			  Note: Base: 16 to 24 year olds, England Source: Labour Force Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Confidence intervals for NEET percentages given in Table 1 
			Confidence intervals 
			  Quarter  Year  Total  White  Mixed  Asian or Asian British  Black or Black British  Other ethnic group 
			 Q1 2005 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.5 +1-2.9 +1-4.6 +/- 4.4 
			 Q2 2005 +1-0.7 +/-0.7 +/-5.7 +/- 3.0 +/-4.7 +/-4.7 
			 Q3 2005 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.4 +/-3A +/-5.1 +/-5.7 
			 Q4 2005 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.2 +/- 3.0 +/- 4.9 +/- 5.4 
			 Q1 2006 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.2 +/-2.9 +/- 4.5 +/-5.1 
			 Q2 2006 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.9 +/- 2.9 +/-4.7 +/- 4.6 
			 Q3 2006 +/-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/- 6.4 +/- 3.2 +/- 4.8 +/- 5.2 
			 Q4 2006 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 5.8 +/-2.9 +/- 4.8 +/- 4.5 
			 Q1 2007 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 6.5 +/- 2.9 +/- 4.5 +/- 4.0 
			 Q2 2007 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +J-6.5 +/- 3.0 +/-4.6 +/- 4.0 
			 Q3 2007 +1-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/- 6.4 +/- 3.0 +/- 4.5 +/-4.9 
			 Q4 2007 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/-6.1 +/- 2.8 +/- 4.4 +/- 4.3 
			 Q1 2008 +/-0.7 +/-0.7 +/- 6.5 +/-2.7 +/- 4.8 +/- 4.3 
			 Q2 2008 +1-0.7 +/-0.7 +/-5.7 +/-2.7 +/-5.0 +/- 4.4 
			 Q3 2008 +/-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/- 6.0 +/-3.1 +/- 4.8 +/- 4.6 
			 Q4 2008 +/-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/- 5.3 +/-2.9 +/-4.1 +/- 4.3 
			 Q1 2009 +/-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/- 5.3 +/- 2.9 +/- 4.4 +/- 4.0 
			 Q2 2009 +/- 0.8 +/- 0.8 +/-6.1 +/- 3.0 +/- 4.3 +/- 3.9 
			 Q3 2009 +/- 0.8 +/- 0.9 +/- 6.0 +/- 3.3 +/-5.1 +/- 4.4 
			 Q4 2009 +/-0.7 +/- 0.8 +/-4.7 +1-2.9 +/- 4.8 +/- 4.2

Unemployment

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) men and  (b) women were not in education, employment or training in each quarter of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The following tables show the number and percentage of 16-24 year old men (table 2) and women (table 1) in England who were not in education, employment or training in each quarter of the last five years.
	These estimates are taken from the Labour Force survey which, as with any sample survey, is subject to sampling variability. The estimates should therefore be considered along side their confidence intervals (CIs). CIs indicate how accurate an estimate is, for example, a 95 per cent. CI of+/-1.2 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 1.2pp above the estimate and 1.2pp below the estimate, for 95 per cent. of estimates.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number and percentage of females aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). 
			  Quarter  Year  Number of 16-24 year old females  Percentage (of all 16-24 year old females  95 Per cent confidence interval (percentage points) 
			 Q1 2005 432,000 15.5 +/-1.0 
			 Q2 2005 456,000 16.2 +/-1.0 
			 Q3 2005 504,000 17.7 +/-1.J 
			 Q4 2005 462,000 16.3 +/-1.0 
			 Q1 2006 457,000 16.2 +/-1.0 
			 Q2 2006 484,000 17.0 +/-1.0 
			 Q3 2006 554,000 19.4 +/-1.1 
			 Q4 2006 446,000 15.5 +/-1.0 
			 Q1 2007 456,000 15.8 +/-1.0 
			 Q2 2007 474,000 16.4 +/-1.0 
			 Q3 2007 515,000 17.6 +/-1.0 
			 Q4 2007 444,000 15.2 +/-1.0 
			 Q1 2008 452,000 15.5 +/-1.0 
			 Q2 2008 487,000 16.5 +/-1.0 
			 Q3 2008 554,000 18.8 +/-1.1 
			 Q4 2008 491,000 16.5 +/-1.0 
			 Q1 2009 497,000 16.8 +/-1.1 
			 Q2 2009 510,000 17.2 +/-1.1 
			 Q3 2009 565,000 19.2 +/- 1.2 
			 Q4 2009 493,000 16.5 +/-1.1 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number and percentage of males aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) 
			  Quarter  Year  Number of 16-24 year old males NEET  Percentage (of all 16-24 year old males)  95 Per cent. confidence interval (percentage points) 
			 Q1 2005 311,000 10.9 +/- 0.9 
			 Q2 2005 314,000 10.9 +/-0.9 
			 Q3 2005 373,000 12.8 +/-0.9 
			 Q4 2005 376,000 12.9 +/-1.0 
			 QI 2006 344,000 11.8 +/-0.9 
			 Q2 2006 367,000 12.6 +/- 0.9 
			 Q3 2006 415,000 14.0 +/-1.0 
			 Q4 2006 361,000 12.1 +/- 0.9 
			 Q1 2007 371,000 12.5 +/-0.9 
			 Q2 2007 359,000 12.1 +/-0.9 
			 Q3 2007 393,000 13.2 +/- 0.9 
			 Q4 2007 336,000 11.1 +/- 0.9 
			 Q1 2008 357,000 11.8 +/- 0.9 
			 Q2 2008 350,000 11.4 +/-0.9 
			 Q3 2008 415,000 13.6 +/-1.0 
			 Q4 2008 363,000 11.9 +/- 0.9 
			 Q1 2009 437,000 14.3 +/-1.0 
			 Q2 2009 446,000 14.6 +/-1.0 
			 Q3 2009 509,000 16.6 +/-1.1 
			 Q4 2009 403,000 13.2 +/-1.0

Unemployment

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people were not in education, employment or training in each  (a) local authority area and  (b) region in each quarter of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The following tables give the number (table 1) and proportion (table 2) of people aged 16 to 24(1) not in education, employment or training (NEET) for each region in England for every quarter for the last five years. These estimates are from the Labour Force Survey, which has been recently reweighted to revised population estimates and therefore may be marginally different from regional NEET estimates provided previously.
	As with any sample survey, the LFS is subject to sampling variability and therefore should be viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Intervals (CI). CIs indicate how accurate an estimate is, and for regional estimates they range from +/- 1.5 to +/- 3.9 percentage points (pp), with an average of+/- 2.2pp. CIs for Q4 2009 have been provided below and a 95 per cent. CI of+A-2.2 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 2.2pp above the estimate and 2.2pp below the estimate, for 95 per cent. of estimates.
	The Labour Force Survey sample is not large enough to provide quarterly estimates for small geographies such as local authority areas. We are able to give annual estimates for local authorities from the Annual Population Survey, which has a larger sample. The most recent estimate available is for 2008 and I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 January 2010,  Official Report, column reference 402W which provided estimates for local education authorities between 2000 and 2008.
	(1) Age used is respondents academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August
	
		
			  Table 1: The number of people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training by region 
			  Quarter   North East  North West  York and Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East of England  London  South East  South West 
			 Q1 2005 56,000 110,000 89,000 61,000 81,000 60,000 131,000 92,000 63,000 
			 Q2 2005 62,000 117,000 99,000 59,000 88,000 66,000 134,000 85,000 61,000 
			 Q3 2005 68,000 124,000 107,000 67,000 100,000 69,000 156,000 110,000 76,000 
			 Q4 2005 61,000 114,000 107,000 70,000 93,000 77,000 143,000 110,000 63,000 
			 Q1 2006 52,000 118,000 93,000 77,000 90,000 72,000 132,000 105,000 61,000 
			 Q2 2006 52,000 128,000 105,000 76,000 97,000 86,000 141,000 108,000 59,000 
			 Q3 2006 53,000 140,000 118,000 81,000 112,000 93,000 184,000 115,000 74,000 
			 Q4 2006 45,000 120,000 95,000 65,000 96,000 77,000 147,000 93,000 68,000 
			 Q1 2007 48,000 127,000 96,000 72,000 111,000 77,000 118,000 107,000 70,000 
			 Q2 2007 47,000 134,000 92,000 66,000 106,000 84,000 130,000 112,000 61,000 
			 Q3 2007 52,000 144,000 105,000 81,000 111,000 92,000 135,000 125,000 63,000 
			 Q4 2007 49,000 120,000 82,000 70,000 92,000 74,000 122,000 116,000 56,000 
			 Q1 2008 53,000 135,000 75,000 69,000 95,000 87,000 128,000 104,000 62,000 
			 Q2 2008 56,000 138,000 101,000 70,000 98,000 77,000 130,000 111,000 55,000 
			 Q3 2008 65,000 149,000 119,000 86,000 119,000 83,000 146,000 131,000 71,000 
			 Q4 2008 55,000 141,000 92,000 68,000 104,000 80,000 126,000 124,000 64,000 
			 Q1 2009 58,000 156,000 109,000 70,000 125,000 84,000 120,000 132,000 80,000 
			 Q2 2009 68,000 155,000 123,000 76,000 129,000 83,000 111,000 144,000 68,000 
			 Q3 2009 72,000 181,000 130,000 92,000 121,000 93,000 148,000 147,000 89,000 
			 Q4 2009 68,000 139,000 114,000 72,000 103,000 88,000 119,000 119,000 73,000 
			 Q4 2009 CIs (95% PP) +/-12,000 +/-17,000 +/-15,000 +/-12,000 +/-15,000 +/-14,000 +/-17,000 +/-16,000 +/-13,000 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The proportion of all people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training by region 
			  Quarter   North East  North West  York and Humber  East Midlands  West Midlands  East of England  London  South East  South West 
			 Q1 2005 18 14 14 12 13 10 16 11 12 
			 Q2 2005 20 15 16 12 14 11 15 10 11 
			 Q3 2005 23 15 17 13 16 12 18 13 14 
			 Q4 2005 19 14 17 14 15 13 17 13 12 
			 Q1 2006 17 15 14 15 15 12 15 12 11 
			 Q2 2006 17 16 16 15 16 14 16 13 11 
			 Q3 2006 17 17 18 16 18 16 21 13 14 
			 Q4 2006 14 14 14 12 15 13 17 10 12 
			 Q1 2007 15 15 14 14 18 13 14 12 13 
			 Q2 2007 15 16 14 13 17 14 15 12 11 
			 Q3 2007 16 17 16 15 18 15 16 14 11 
			 Q4 2007 15 14 12 13 15 12 14 13 10 
			 Q1 2008 16 16 11 13 15 14 15 11 11 
			 Q2 2008 17 16 15 13 16 13 14 12 10 
			 Q3 2008 20 18 18 16 19 13 16 14 13 
			 Q4 2008 17 17 14 13 16 13 15 13 11 
			 Q1 2009 18 19 16 13 20 14 14 14 14 
			 Q2 2009 21 18 18 14 20 13 13 15 12 
			 Q3 2009 22 21 19 17 19 15 17 16 16 
			 Q4 2009 21 16 17 13 16 14 14 13 13 
			 Q4 2009 95% CIs (PP) +/-3.7 +/- 2.0 +/- 2.2 +/- 2.3 +/- 2.3 +/- 2.2 +/- 2.0 +/- 1.7 +/- 2.2

CABINET OFFICE

Census: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office to what extent the equality impact assessment conducted by the Office for National Statistics in respect of the 2011 census question development considered the effect on equality of how public bodies use the ethnic group data in meeting the Race Relations Act public sector duties.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. Copies of the letters will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Census: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the Office for National Statistics sets a minimum threshold for the number of respondents to a specified ethnic group category in deciding on its inclusion or continued inclusion in the Census.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. Copies of the letters will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Census: Ethnic Groups

Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the equality impact assessment conducted by the Office for National Statistics in respect of the 2011 Census question considered the effect on equality of not including legally defined races within the mandatory ethnic group question; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. Copies of the letters will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Central Office of Information: Advertising

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the estimated monetary value is of the Central Office of Information framework agreement on classified and recruitment advertising.

Tessa Jowell: I have asked the chief executive of the Central Office of Information to write to the hon. Member.
	  Letter from Mark Lund, dated 3 March 2010:
	asking for the estimated monetary value of the classified and recruitment advertising framework.
	The estimated value of the framework for a four year period, when operational, will be up to a maximum value of £16 million.

Civil Servants

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the mean salary of a Grade 7 civil servant was at the latest date for which information is available.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 9 March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning, what the mean salary of a Grade 7 civil servant was at the latest date for which information is available. (320733)
	The Office for National Statistics collects the annual salaries of civil servants, as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES).
	The mean salary of a Grade 7 civil servant at 31 March 2009 was £49,290.

Civil Servants: Training

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 2 June 2009,  Official Report, column 422W, on civil servants, if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance to civil servants on taking minutes.

Tessa Jowell: A copy of Guide to Minute Taking has been placed in the Library.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many  (a) disciplinary and  (b) capability procedures have been (i) initiated and (ii) completed in her Department in each of the last five years; how much time on average was taken to complete each type of procedure in each such year; how many and what proportion of her Department's staff were subject to each type of procedures in each such year; and how many and what proportion of each type of procedure resulted in the dismissal of the member of staff.

Angela Smith: Information is not held centrally for capability procedures or disciplinary procedures which are managed by Units. To obtain the information and calculate the time taken to complete these cases would require a request to each manager within the Cabinet Office and therefore represents a disproportionate cost.
	It is Cabinet Office policy not to report information which may identify individuals, and therefore the data for dismissals has been withheld.

Departmental Public Relations

Angus Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which public relations companies have had contracts with  (a) her Department and  (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) executive agency for which her Department is responsible since 2004.

Angela Smith: The information requested of the Cabinet Office is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants in her Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure her Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided.

Angela Smith: There has been no centrally organised foreign language coaching for  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants in Cabinet Office in the last twelve months. All Cabinet Office Management Units have delegated responsibility for their training budgets. This enables them to fund learning and development. Information on attendance and cost is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Dorneywood and Chevening

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which guests were entertained at  (a) Dorneywood and  (b) Chevening in each month since June 2007; and on what date each guest was present.

Tessa Jowell: The information requested is not held by the Cabinet Office.
	The use of Dorneywood is a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Trustees who manage the estate. The use of Chevening is a matter for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Chevening Trustees who manage the estate.

Equality Bill

John Howell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether the proposed new duty to tackle socio-economic inequalities in the Equality Bill is to apply to all local authorities and fire authorities.

Michael Jabez Foster: The duty will apply to local authorities, and to fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) where these form part of a local authority. We are discussing with the fire and rescue service and other appropriate stakeholders whether the duty should in due course be extended to all FRAs.

Members: Correspondence

John Whittingdale: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when she expects to the reply to the letters of 10 December 2008, 15 July 2009 and 11 November 2009 from the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford on behalf of a constituent, Mrs E. P. Molloy.

Angela Smith: Letters dated 10 December 2008 and 15 July 2009 were transferred to Treasury on 22 December 2008 and 22 July 2009 respectively. The Department has no record of receiving correspondence from the hon. Member for Maldon and East Chelmsford dated 11 November 2009.

Official Residences

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for how many months each of the unoccupied ministerial residences in Admiralty House has been empty; and how much has been paid in  (a) utility bills and  (b) council tax in respect of each such property in each such period.

Tessa Jowell: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 11 January 2010,  Official Report, columns 712-13W, and the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 23 March 2009,  Official Report, column 127W.

Official Residences: Empty Property

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  how many months each vacant Ministerial residence has been empty; and how much has been paid in council tax on each such residence since it became vacant;
	(2)  what the costs in  (a) rent,  (b) council tax, (c) utilities,  (d) cleaning and maintenance and  (e) other running costs of each individual Ministerial residence in Admiralty House were in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 11 January 2010,  Official Report, column 712-13W and the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 23 March 2009,  Official Report, column 127W.

Population: Statistics

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what methodology the Office for National Statistics uses to calculate its mid-year population estimates.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	  Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what methodology the ONS uses to calculate its Mid-Year Population Estimates (320726).
	The ONS produces annual estimates of the resident population of England and Wales as at 30 June each year. ONS Mid-Year Population Estimates are calculated using the cohort component method. This is an established demographic method which is internationally recognised. The method takes the previous year's population estimate, ages the population by one year, adds in the births and takes away the deaths that have taken place during the year and accounts for both international and internal long-term migration. Adjustments are also made for changes to the numbers of armed forces, prisoners and pupils in boarding schools.
	The annotated flow-chart 'Mid-year Population Estimates: England  Wales' provides a detailed summary of the cohort component method as used by ONS. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The Government, and ONS in particular, have invested heavily in improving the sources and methods used to produce the population estimates. The Migration Statistics Improvement Programme has already delivered substantial benefits, including improved methods for population estimates that will be published in May 2010. These are a result of extensive research by ONS and a large scale engagement programme with users.

Self-employed: St. Albans

Anne Main: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people resident in St Albans constituency were recorded as self-employed in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	  Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people resident in St Albans constituency were recorded as self-employed in each year since 1997.(320888)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and its predecessor the annual Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Unfortunately the sample size does not support analyses of self employed for the constituencies.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Unemployment

David Lidington: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people were not in education, employment or training in each quarter since April 2008.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply
	The following table shows the number and percentage of all 16-24(1) year-olds in England who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in each quarter since Q2 2008.
	These estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey which, as with any sample survey, is subject to sampling variability. The estimates should therefore be considered along side their Confidence Intervals (CIs). CIs indicate how accurate an estimate is, for example, a 95% CI of+/-0.7 percentage points (pp) means that the true value is between 0.7pp above the estimate and 0.7pp below the estimate, for 95 per cent. of estimates.
	These figures are not seasonally adjusted and therefore adjacent quarters are not directly comparable.
	(1)Age used is respondents academic age. which is defined as their age at the preceding 31 August
	
		
			  Table: Number and percentage of 16-24 year olds not in education, employment and training. 
			  Quarter   Numb er of 16-24 year-  old NEETs  Percentage of all 16-24 year- old NEET  95% confidence i ntervals (pp) 
			 Q2 2008 837,000 13.9 +/-0.7 
			 Q3 2008 969,000 16.1 +/-0.7 
			 Q4 2008 854,000 14.2 +/-0.7 
			 Q1 2009 933,000 15.5 +/-0.7 
			 Q2 2009 956,000 15.8 +/-0.8 
			 Q3 2009 1,074,000 17.9 +/-0.8 
			 Q4 2009 895,000 14.8 +/-0.7 
		
	
	The Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) publishes the above estimates every quarter and the further information can be found here
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000913/NEETQBQ42009final.pdf

Unemployment: Young People

John Leech: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what average length of time young persons who have been unemployed for six months or more in each district of Manchester have been unemployed.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck dated March 2010:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time young persons who have been unemployed for six months or more in each of the 10 Manchester districts have been unemployed. (321080)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. Unfortunately the sample size does not support analyses of unemployment for the requested geography.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk